The Three Cores - A New Beginning (Volume 1)
by PancakeStudios
Summary: Dr. Tenma gets his job at the ministry back and because of that, he sends Astro to school. There he meets a mysterious girl and finds out about some project called A.S.T.R.O. Stone escapes from prison and another robot boy appears, running with red core energy. [Story is being fixed and rewritten]
1. The three cores

**Author's note:**

**Finally! After almost a year, I'm publishing my Astro Boy fanfic! I once uploaded it but deleted it again because I made some HUGE mistakes while writing it. After downloading a grammar program and rewriting the story several times, it's finished! But be warned! My English is still not that good! Grab some food, put some background music and enjoy this story with horrible grammar! :)**

**All characters:**

**Male characters:**

**Astro**

**Dr. Tenma/Bill Tenma**

**Toby**

**Dr. Elefun**

**Orrin**

**Stone**

**Atlas/Daichi**

**Mr. Mustachio**

**Hamegg**

**Zane**

**Lewis**

**Kennedy**

**Alejo**

**Abercrombie**

**Reno**

**Sludge**

**Jump**

**Jack**

**Detective Tawashi**

**Robin**

**Female characters:**

**Mrs. Tenma/Hoshie Tenma**

**Zoran**

**Widget**

**Cora**

**Kathy**

**Sara**

**Hina**

**Yui**

**Akira**

**Daisy/Nikki**

**I don't own any of the characters, except Robin, Jack, Hina, Yui, Akira, Sara, and Lewis.**

**Nikki or for some people (Nyoka, Niku, Nuki or Nuka) and Kathy are actually from the 1980 Astro Boy version.**

**Nikki appears at the last episode (Astro's first love) and Kathy at the second or third episode (The robot circus)**

**Zoran, Abercrombie, Reno, Alejo, Kennedy, and Detective Tawashi also appear in the Astro Boy series. (2003) (1980) (1963)**

**Hoshi Tenma (Dr. Tenma's wife) appears in the 60's Astro Boy manga in the 'once upon a time' tales.**

**I hope you enjoy this story! ;)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

**THE THREE CORES**

An old legend tells about the three cores.

The first one is the blue core, it contains positive energy. It can heal, save lives and change things for the better. Whoever is the holder of it, has to learn how to use its power correctly.

The second one is the red core, it contains negative energy and is the full opposite of the blue core. It can harm, kill and change things for the worse. The holder of the red core has to learn how to control it because if they're too weak, the red core would take over the holder.

The third one is an unknown core, it contains both positive and negative energy. It can decide if it wants to become a red core or a blue core and is the strongest from those threes. The holder has to be mentally very strong to be able to control and use its power. But what no one knows, is the real power behind that core.

You're able to make more cores because the energy source has no end, just the unknown core doesn't have that possibility. Its energy is unique and there's nothing that can destroy it. If one of the two other cores gets destroyed but the other one is still there, it will come back. The balance of the universe has to stay, no matter what.

In the year 3003 in a floating city called Metro City, in the ministry of science, an old professor named Dr. Elefun presented the blue and the red core to the scientist. The president called Stone and Dr. Tenma, the director of the ministry were also there. Everyone was impressed by the beautiful blue core while the evil president only had eyes for the red core. They planed to use the blue energy for a robot the president wanted, but he took control over the remote to load the red energy. He ignored the scientist's warnings about it and in the end, everything went out of control and it killed someone. That, someone, was a young boy called Toby, he was thirteen years old at the time and was the son of the director of the ministry. The scientist couldn't get over the loss of his son and reactivated a robot that was the perfect copy of him which used to be a project back then. That robot became the holder of the blue core.

The scientist realized that that robot won't be able to replace his son and rejected him, but in the end, he realized that that robot was still his son, no matter what and accepted him for who he was. The robot fought against the red core and sacrificed himself to save the life of the others. But what you give, also comes back and he got revived by a robot friend of his who also had the blue energy.

Since then on, he was known as Metro City's hero "Astro Boy".

The scientists thought that the legend about the unknown core was just a legend and nothing more, but what if they were wrong? And what about the red core?

* * *

**That's it with the first chapter! :)**

**I hope you enjoyed it! :D**

**From now on I will start to always ask you a question down here!**


	2. A new beginning

**CHAPTER 2**

**A NEW BEGINNING**

Astro finished the orange floating alien in the sky, spun him around and threw him back into space.

"Wrong planet! Ask the milky way for directions!" Astro yelled and the people in Metro City started clapping and cheering. The young robot boy smiled awkwardly and took a closer look at the mess the fight with the Peacekeeper caused, it was huge. His expression which was once happy, brave and confident, turned into a terrified one. He landed on one of the buildings and scanned it.

"Huh? Weird...", he muttered to himself, there was no one in there. He scanned the other buildings and it was the same. A relieved sigh escaped his mouth, but the thought that almost everyone in Metro City had lost their home and belongings, left a worried and bad feeling in his stomach. After looking through the apartment, he found a wallet and opened it. He didn't want to steal anything, all he wanted to do was to check whose wallet it was, so he could give it back to the owner.

Astro gasped quietly and frowned.

"Hamegg?" he whispered and looked around, "Well, I should give this back to him."

The young robot jumped off the building and rocketed towards the orphanage. After landing there and looking around, he found Hamegg sitting on the floor with his back towards the building. Astro sighed and went over to him.

"Uhm, Hamegg?" he asked. Hamegg turned his head to the young robot and sighed.

"Oh, it's you," he said and looked down again.

"Is something wrong?" Astro asked, innocently.

"Why would you care, after what I did to you?" he asked.

Astro sat down next to him, Hamegg seemed a bit surprised.

"Everyone deserves a second chance. I know why you did that to me. Susie and Mark mean a lot to you even though they aren't your own children," Astro said.

Susie and Mark were siblings. They had a specific illness and needed medical support. Their parents couldn't afford it and threw their kids on the junkyard for them to survive on their own. Hamegg luckily found them and let them stay in the orphanage as he did with all the other orphans. He tried his best to win money, so he could manage to cure them. But it wasn't enough, so when he met Astro and found out that he was actually a robot, he lost himself and found himself again, almost being crushed by a robot and saved by the robot he forced to things he didn't want to do just to earn money.

"Now you should better send them to the hospital," Astro said, "And I found this, I suppose it's yours."

Hamegg's eyes widened when he saw his wallet. He quickly snapped it out of his hands and checked if everything was still in there.

"Why are you so disgustingly nice to me?" Hamegg asked.

"I know that you're a genius and went through a lot. Even though you still complain about it today, there's still a future," the young robot said and stood up, "I need to leave before my dad gets worried."

"Your dad?" Hamegg repeated, confused.

"My creator," Astro explained, "It wasn't his fault why he fired you."

Hamegg's eyes widened after he understood what he meant.

"He was forced to," Astro finished and rocketed away.

**Flashback (8 years):**

Dr. Tenma was in his office, talking to his 5 years old son Toby through a hologram.

"Dad? When are you coming home?" Toby asked.

"Don't worry, son. Soon I'll be back home so we can play together," Dr. Tenma said.

"Promise?" Toby asked, happily.

"Promise," he assured and smiled.

Suddenly the doors opened and President Stone walked in.

"Tenma, I need you to fire that Egg Ham guy!"

"Huh? Do you mean Hamegg? Why? Did something happen?" Dr. Tenma asked.

"Nobody plays Mr. SmartyPants in front of my nouse!"

Earlier:

"Hello, President Stone! Would you like to be the first tester of the massage bed I made?" Hamegg asked.

"I-"

"Or would you rather test my massage chair? It's covered with soft pillows!"

"What if-"

"Or do you want to buy the massage couch? There's place for at least 6 people!"

President Stone growled. "I don't-"

"I also made a massage mask! It relaxes the face cells and muscles!"

The president frowned and walked past him.

"Wait! I also made a massage hat! You should try it out it..."

Dr. Tenma frowned.

"So you want me to fire Hamegg just because he wanted you to try his newest inventions?" Dr. Tenma asked.

"And kick him out of the city."

"And kick him out of the city?! But we need him for our newest project we're working on!"

"Fire him finally! Or do you want to assist him company down there on the surface?"

Dr. Tenma's eyes widened, he knew that that man would dare to separate him and his son or also throw his son on the junkyard. He looked down and sighed.

"Fine..."

The five years old Toby heard the whole conversation and seemed confused.

"Goodman," Stone said before he left the office.

"Dad?" Toby asked and Dr. Tenma looked at him again, "Is something wrong?"

"Sorry Toby, we can't play together today," Dr. Tenma said sadly.

Toby had a disgusted expression on his face. "You never keep your promises!"

**End of flashback.**

Hamegg followed the robot boy with his eyes as he flew back to Metro City. A warm smile appeared on his face and he stood up to go inside.

Astro flew through the city, searching for his father and found him in a crowd, including Dr. Elefun and his friends. He smiled and landed in front of them.

"Where have you been just right now?" Widget asked.

"I had to take care of something," Astro replied and scratched the back of his head.

"Alright, we should go home, son," Dr. Tenma said, smiling.

Before Astro went with his father into the car, he asked his friends for their number so they could meet again. Dr. Tenma drove Dr. Elefun home and then they drove straight to theirs. Everything in awkward silence. After they arrived at their home, Dr. Tenma went into his room and left Astro in the living room.

The young robot boy looked around, he had thousand of memories of this place but it still seemed foreign in his eyes. The boy in the pictures and Astro had the same face but he knew that they were different persons. His room, his clothes, his books, wasn't his.

He sat at the edge of the balcony, a part was missing, so his feet hang down. Tears began rolling down his cheeks. All those days, the pain of being unwanted, abandoned, and his father's words tortured him. The feeling of happiness that suddenly overfloated him when his father finally accepted him. But now he was here again. The place where he was rejected.

More tears rolled down and he wiped them away with his hands, but more tears came.

Then he noticed someone sitting down beside him. It's was Dr. Tenma.

Astro was surprised, he knew that he had acrophobia.

"I'm sorry," the scientist said. "I'm a terrible father for what I did and for making you cry. I will see you as my son Astro from now on and I promise that I will be a better father than I was before."

Astro looked into Dr. Tenma's eyes, smiling and tears rolling down his cheeks.

"It's time for a new beginning," the scientist said.

* * *

**11 days later...**

Thanks to the newest technology, Dr. Tenma's apartment was fully restored again, it even had some upgrades. The living room for example now had stairs which lead to a second floor with new rooms.

Astro loved to spend time with his friends, they mostly played pranks on the RRF or just hangout, took photos and ate pizza. He was often bored because Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge had school and needed to take extra lessons so they could be on the same level as the other kids their age.

Astro entered the apartment, he had hung out with his friends on the surface like always. Dr. Tenma sat on the couch and watched the news. They were still talking about the fight with the Peacekeeper, the ministry of science, Astro, Metro City, and the surface.

"Good evening, son," he greeted.

"Hey," Astro replied.

Just at the moment where Astro made his first step up the stairs, Orrin came out of the kitchen and served the food on the table. Astro smelled the fragrance and the food caught his attention.

"Dinner is ready!" Orrin said.

Astro left his backpack next to the stairs and ran over to the table, obviously hungry. When Dr. Tenma sat down, Astro had already begun eating.

Dr. Tenma cleared his throat. "Astro?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk about your studies."

Astro raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong with them?"

"No, not at all. I just wanted to tell you that I got my job back at the ministry," he explained.

"Oh, that's great!"

"But, the problem is, that I can't work at the ministry and teach you at the same time," he explained.

Astro felt relieved, he expected that now he was going to tell him that he didn't need to study anymore. He liked to enjoy his free time until someone or something attacked the city.

"Mhmm?"

"That's why I decided to send you to school!"

Astro stared at him with a blanc expression for a few seconds. That was not what he was expecting.

"What?" he asked, hoping it was just his mind, playing tricks on him.

Dr. Tenma sighed. "Yes... you're going to school."

Astro couldn't believe it, but he tried his best to not freak out, failing drastically.

"I'm going to SCHOOL?! This is nuts! Are robots even allowed to study with humans and what if I get unfairly graded for being a robot or-"

The scientist laid his hand on Astro's shoulder. "Astro, I talked to your teacher Mr. Mustachio."

He sighed. "Do I even need school? I mean, I'm a robot."

"You're not 'just' a robot. You're an...android? No! Umm... you're like a... human of metal. Maybe a cyborg? A robot with a heart! That's for sure."

"But still..." he said and sighed, "Well... when's my first day at school?"

"On Monday."

"That's tomorrow! How am I supposed to buy my school supplies?" he asked.

"You don't need new school supplies. We'll just change the name from the USB school set," Dr. Tenma said.

Astro knew that he was trying his best to avoid the name 'Toby'. It has been just two weeks ago since he died and the scientist was still very sensitive about that theme, Astro too. He felt like Toby because of his memories, but after he discovered that he was just a copy of him, he was traumatized, shooked and depressed. Inside him, he knew that he wasn't Toby and he slightly noticed it after he started acting differently and not being into Physics like Toby once was.

Astro finished his meal and went into his room. Before he went to bed, Dr. Tenma gave him an alarm clock and he set it up for 7.30 am. Waking up early isn't one of Astro's favorite things, but he had no choice.

After changing his sleeping position several times, he gave up and opened his eyes. While looking at the sky through the window, an idea popped into his head and his eyes widened slightly with a smile on his mouth. He stood up, went over to the window and slid it open.

The fresh night breeze flowed through his skin. He sighed relieved, swang his feet off the window, letting himself fall and the wind float through his smooth robotic skin and clothes. The people walked around, ate at restaurants or sat on benches. Metro City was pretty, just that there were some construction sites. The young robot boy activated his rockets and flew straight into the sky.

The dark-blue sky was filled with shiny pretty stars, Astro loved to fly at nighttime. Flying was one of his favorite things, he felt free and forgot about all his worries. Being a robot for him meant that there were positive sides but also negative sides. He tried his best to enjoy the positive sides, but that also meant that he had to face the negative ones.

* * *

**That's it with the second chapter!**

**I hope you enjoyed it and here's a question:**

**Do you like how the story had begun or should I change something on it? The idea of the legend of the three cores just popped up in my head while history class. xD**


	3. First day of school

**CHAPTER 3**

**FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL**

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Astro moaned and reached out for his alarm clock.

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

He snorted and clicked softly on it.

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

He pressed on it again.

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Astro clicked on it a few times but the alarm wouldn't stop ringing.

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

He groaned annoyed, lifted his hand and-

_SMASH!_

The alarm clock stopped ringing and he changed his sleeping position. After a few seconds, after he realized what he did, his eyes widened and he sat up rapidly, turning to the alarm clock.

"Great..." he commented, sarcastically and stood up.

He collected the single pieces of the alarm clock and put them into an empty drawer.

"First day of school," he murmured and thought about how bad his day could escalate while changing into his regular clothes.

After he brushed his teeth, he picked up his dark red backpack and left his room. While walking down the stairs, Dr. Tenma noticed him.

He took a sip of his coffee. "Good morning, son."

"Morning," Astro replied and sat down next to him.

"And?" Dr. Tenma asked, "Are you excited? It's your first day at school!"

"Uh, kind of," he replied and snickered nervously.

"I'll drive you to school today as a condition," Dr. Tenma said.

"Thanks," Astro murmured.

It was pretty rare that Tenma was there in the morning. After all, he was the director of the ministry of science.  
Later, Dr. Tenma and Astro went into the car. Dr. Tenma on the driver's seat and Astro next to him. He hugged his backpack and looked out of the window, watching the kids walking with their backpacks, waiting for the bus or train and some of them rode an airbike or a hoverboard.  
They arrived at the school, but Astro hugged his backpack even tighter and didn't leave the car.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Tenma asked.

"I... can't," Astro stammered.

The scientist sighed and picked up a black box, handing it over to Astro.

"Huh? What's that?" he asked.

"Open it," Dr. Tenma said, smiling.

Astro opened the box with a confused look on his face. His eyes widened when he saw what was inside of it.

"A phone?!" he asked, excitedly. He stared at it with a wide smile.

"Yes," Dr. Tenma said. "You can change that phone into a watch, a laptop, a tablet or even a ring."

"Cool!" he said and hugged him, "Thank you, dad! You're the best!"

"Now go, Mr. Mustachio is already expecting you," he said.

Astro looked at the schoolhouse and sighed. "Alright," he said, "I'll do it!"

When he went off the car, the students gasped and stopped chatting or walking. The limousine left and Astro followed it with his eyes until it was completely out of sight, he turned to the schoolhouse again like he was in the middle of a battlefield. He walked towards it, trying his best to avoid eye contact and to not look nervous or scared. After he entered the schoolhouse, he walked directly towards Mr. Mustachio's office, while walking past the chatting students, he overheard the words "Astro", "Robot", "Toby", "Peacekeeper", "President Stone", and "Metro City".

A relieved sigh escaped his mouth when he finally arrived at the office. "Mr. Mustachio's office" stood on the door in big letters "PLEASE RING" stood under it and he did so.

"Come in!" Mr. Mustachio yelled and the young robot boy clicked at the button next to the door to open it.

"Good morning, Mr. Mustachio," Astro greeted and the door closed behind him.

"Good morning, Astro," he greeted, "It's nice to finally meet you. Please take a seat."

Astro nodded and sat down on the chair in front of his desk.

"I already talked with your father and I want you to feel comfortable in this school," Mr. Mustachio said, "I called a student who goes to your same class to the office. His name is Kennedy, he's the class representative and will show you around the school."

Then someone rang the bell.

"That must be him," he said to Astro and turned to the door, "Come in!"

When the door opened, Astro recognized the boy. He used to be Toby's best friend.

"Good morning, teacher!"

When Kennedy turned to Astro with a wide smile on his face, Astro felt a bit bad about the situation.

"What must he be thinking about me?" Astro thought.

"Good morning! Astro, this is Kennedy. Kennedy, this is Astro. Please show him around the school, son," Mr. Mustachio said, friendly.

Kennedy nodded. "Come with me, Astro," he said.

Astro nodded and left with him the office.

"It's him!" a boy with big glasses and a colorful hat cried out and ran over to them. "Impressive!" he gasped and he took a closer look at Astro.

"Hey Alejo," Kennedy greeted, "That's Astro. Don't make him feel uncomfortable, please." He laughed.

"It's nice to meet you, Astro!" Alejo said and shook Astro's hand, "As you already know, I'm Alejo!"

"Uh, nice to meet you, Alejo," Astro said and scratched the back of his head, nervously.

"Isn't it unfair having a robot with programs in a human school?"

Astro finally noticed a blonde boy with blue eyes.

"No, it isn't! Astro can learn just like human children!" Alejo said.

"Oh yeah? Why don't you let him talk?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking at Astro.

"Oh, uh. All I have are memories," he explained.

"Memories?" he asked, confused.

Kennedy laid his hand on Astro shoulder and smiled. "That's Abercrombie," he told him and turned to him, "Please be nice to Astro."

"Uh, it's nice to meet you... Abercrombie," Astro said, holding his hand forward him.

Abercrombie looked at his hand and then back at Astro.  
"Nice to meet you too," he said.

Astro let his arm fall and smiled.

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!_

"Okay guys, let's go to class," Kennedy said.

They nodded and started walking.

"That went well," Astro thought.

Before they entered the classroom, Kennedy stopped Astro and handed him a white flower over.

"Lay it down and act like nothing happened, alright?" he asked and pushed him into the classroom.

Astro was extremely confused and looked over to Toby's old seat, there he saw a picture of him and a few white flowers lying next to it.

With a face of realization, he gazed down at the flower and then back at the seat. Without hesitating, he walked over to his seat and laid the flower down. The students stared at him and Kennedy nodded with a sad smile. Astro smiled warmly at the picture and sat down on another seat. The two desks in front of him were empty and a blonde girl sat down next to him a few seconds after. He didn't pay any attention to her and checked if he hadn't forgotten any of his USB cards.

Mr. Mustachio entered shortly after and the students took their seats. "Good morning students!" he greeted and looked over to Astro, "Today we have a new student. Please stand up and introduce yourself."

Astro stood up nervously. "Uh, hello! I'm Astro Boy Tenma, but please call me Astro and I'm mentally 13 years old," Astro said and sat down quickly.

"Do you have any questions?" Mr. Mustachio asked and regretted it shortly after as everyone raised their hand. Mr. Mustachio looked around with widened eyes and Astro looked embarrassed and nervous. "Uh, yes Vanessa?"

"Why is a robot here at our school? That's cheating!" she said and gave Astro a disgusted glare.

"Here we go again," Astro thought.

"No, that's not cheating. Because all he has are memories," Mr. Mustachio explained.

"I bet those are Toby's memories!" a boy said.

"Uh, if you want to say something, Lewis. Then please raise your hand," Mr. Mustachio said.

He raised his hand with an annoyed look on his face.

"Yes, Lewis?" Mr. Mustachio asked.

"I bet that that robot has Toby's memories!" he said loudly and turned to Astro, standing up, "GET OUT OF HERE!"

Astro stared at him, paralyzed, confused and shocked.

"Lewis! Calm down and sit down again!" Mr. Mustachio demanded.

Kennedy who was sitting next to him stood up. "As the class representative, I-"

Lewis balled his hands into fists and hit him in the face. Kennedy grabbed his nose and stumbled backward.

"Ken!" Alejo cried and ran towards him to check if he was okay.

"Lewis! Detention!"

"NO!" Lewis cried and ran over to Astro to attack him.

The girl next to Astro's seat stood up and grabbed Lewis before he could even reach him. Astro stood up and took a few steps back.

"Lewis! Detention! Now please leave the classroom!" Mr. Mustachio demanded and pointed at the door.

Lewis started crying. "Screw your creator! He fricking replaced Toby with project A.S.T.R.O!" he cried.

"Project... Astro?" Astro whispered to himself in confusion.

"Lewis, please calm down. You need to get over him," the girl said.

"You don't understand!" Lewis cried and tried to free himself from her, "Let me go!"

The girl let him go and he ran out of the classroom. After he left, two students ran inside and huffed. Astro seemed confused, in his memories he knew that Lewis always envied and hated Toby.

"Cora, Zane! It's the second time that you're late," Mr. Mustachio complained.

Astro's eyes widened as he heard their names.

"Sorry," they said and looked over to Astro. They made eye contact with their robot friend and smiled.

"Now sit down, please. We have a new student who's sitting right behind you," the teacher said.

They sat down on their seats and smiled over to Astro.

"Kennedy, are you alright?" the teacher asked.

"Yeah," he responded and sat down, holding a tissue on his nose.

"Alright, let's begin lessons," Mr. Mustachio said, awkwardly.

Astro and the girl sat down again and she handed him a note. Astro looked at the note and then at her. She had blonde hair with a light orange tone and honey-brown eyes just like him. She smiled at him and looked back at Mr. Mustachio.

Astro unfolded the note and read it. "Are you okay? Sorry about what happened."

He took a pen and wrote something under the sentence before he gave it back to her. She smiled and unfolded it. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking. :)"

She took her pen, wrote something under his answer and gave him the note again. Astro unfolded it and read it. "By the way, I'm Daisy. It's nice to meet you! :D Do you like Physics?"

He wrote again something under it and gave it to her again. She unfolded it and read his answer. "It's nice to meet you too, Daisy. :) I don't really like Physics, but I'm good at it. I like Music! What about you? :D"

She wrote something on it and gave it back to Astro. He unfolded it again and read it. "Cool, I like Music too! But my favorite subjects are Biology and Maths. :)"

He took his pen again and wrote something on the note. "By the way, what's with that Project A.S.T.R.O?"

She read the note and answered again. "You don't know about it? Sorry, if you don't know, I don't think I can tell you. :/"

"It's alright... by the way, what's your favorite food?"

They continued it until the bell rang again and the students left the classroom. Astro followed them into the cafeteria, the students looked confused when he stood on the line to get his food, but shrugged it off. After Astro got his food, he left the cafeteria and went into the school's backyard where Kennedy, Alejo, and Abercrombie were already waiting for him. They were sitting on one of the picknick tables, the others were empty.

"Hey, Astro! Come sit with us!" Alejo said.

Astro nodded and sat down next to Kennedy.

"Sooooo, what's new?" Kennedy asked.

Alejo shrugged and Abercrombie continued eating his lunch.

"What is Project A.S.T.R.O?" Astro asked.

Kennedy's eyes widened, Alejo and Abercrombie started choking on their food and Astro covered his food so nothing would land on it.

"What?" Astro asked, confused.

"You don't know?" Alejo asked.

"Know what?" the young robot asked.

"Hey, guys! Did you try that cheese pizza they have in the cafeteria? It's delicious!" Kennedy asked, nervously.

"Yeah, should we get some?" Alejo asked and scratched the back of his head, nervously.

"Good idea!" Abercrombie said and stood up.

"We'll be right back, Astro!" Alejo said.

Astro noticed how they tried to avoid that theme and watched them go into the cafeteria again. He sighed and continued eating his lunch, grimly.

Not long after they left, he heard a familiar voice. "Astro?"

He turned around and to his surprise it was Daisy.

"Oh, hey Daisy," he said. "What's up?"

She sat down next to him.  
"I didn't see you in the cafeteria so I thought you were outside," she replied. "Why are you alone?"

"I'm not alone, my friends just went to get some pizza," Astro said. "I guess..."

"Hey, what's with you? Cheer up a bit," Daisy said and smiled.

"I just want to know what's with that 'Projekt A.S.T.R.O'. My friends are obviously trying to hide the answers from me!" he said.

Daisy sighed.  
"Well, it's..."

"Astro! We finally found you!" a boy's voice said.

They turned around and saw Cora and Zane smiling.

"Hey, Astro! Who's that?" Kennedy asked. They came back.

"Oh, uh. They're my friends!" Astro replied, nervously and gazed over to Daisy to see if he was right.

"Oh, hi Daisy, Cora and uh... Zane?" Kennedy said and the boys sat down.

Cora and Zane waved and sat down at the table with them.

Suddenly they heard sirens and alarms crying. The kids stood up and looked around. Then the principal spoke through the speaker: "Everyone, evacuate the building and get home as fast as possible! This is an emergency! Drop everything and go home as fast as possible! This is an emergency!"

"What happened?!" Alejo cried.

"I don't know, but we should better get out of here!" Astro said and looked around for a quick moment. "Follow me!"

They ran towards an emergency exit which leads right to the front of the school. There they saw people in a panic, running through the streets.

"You guys go home! I'm going to see what's happening!" Astro said and rocketed away.

A loud explosion followed that made the floor shake violently. Black smoke raised from the direction the explosion came from.

* * *

**So, that's it with the third chapter! ^-^**

**I really hope you enjoyed it!**

**Here's my question:  
Do you live in a house or an apartment? I live in an apartment (on the last floor without elevators T-T) (those are situations where I wish I could fly just like Astro xD)**


	4. Atlas

**CHAPTER 4**

**ATLAS**

Astro flew through Metro City to see what was going on and there, in the downtown area, he saw an orange and yellow boy, flying just like him, and destroying the city with his arm cannons. Those were the same as Astro's, the only difference was that instead of shooting in blue, they shot in red.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Stop that!" Astro cried and rocketed straight towards him.

The orange robot turned his head to him. Astro was floating in front of him and staring at him, he felt a weird and familiar feeling in his chest in his presence.

The orange and yellow robot boy grinned. "So you're the famous Astro Boy, huh?"

"Who are you?" Astro demanded to know and frowned.

"I am Atlas," he said and aimed his arm cannon at Astro. "And I am here to destroy you!"

The cannon loaded quickly and Astro's eyes widened. He quickly dodged.

"Why are you doing this?" Astro asked while avoiding getting hit by Atlas.

Atlas didn't reply and kept fighting. Suddenly he shot right into Astro's chest which flung him powerfully into a skyscraper, the ministry of science.

Astro growled in pain and opened one eye. He held his chest and coughed violently. Black grime came out of his mouth and splashed on the floor.

"Astro!" he heard a familiar voice cry.

"Oh my god! Are you alright?" he heard another familiar voice ask.

He sat on his arm and knees and looked towards the huge hole in the wall he made, ignoring the two persons who were also in the room. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and coughed slightly.

Then Atlas appeared, floating in front of the building and staring at Astro. He started laughing hysterically.

"What kind of power is this?" Astro cried and hugged his chest tightly. He managed with his weak legs to stand up and stared at Atlas, frowning and not letting go of his aching chest.

"Let's say, you once fought against that power," Atlas said and opened his chest panel.

Astro's eyes widened. In his chest was the red core!

"How is that possible?" one of the familiar voices asked.

Atlas closed his chest panel again and grinned. "I will come back. Be prepared for our next fight!" he said, laughed hysterically and rocketed away.

Right after that, Astro fell again, everything was in slow-motion for him. He recognized the two persons as Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun that were running towards him. Pain started taking over him as everything went black and his body hit the floor.

* * *

People who were hiding came out, opened their windows or stepped outside. They didn't know if they should cheer or not.

* * *

"I'm back!" Atlas yelled and opened an old metallic door.

The figure of a man in the darkness moved. "Did you kill him?" he asked.

"No, but I think I found his weak spot," Atlas replied laid down on an old yellow couch.

"Idiot! And why didn't you kill him if you knew his weak spot?!" the man yelled, angrily.

"To give him a taste of my power so he can be prepared for our next fight," he replied. "This is going to be easier than I thought!"

"I hope you're right," the man replied. Then he came out of the darkness and his face was able to be seen. It was Stone!

"Of course I am! You'll see!"

* * *

Daisy walked through the streets with her backpack and staring at her feet. It was already dark and raining heavily. Her clothes were soaked in water and her hair too. Then she stood in front of a black house. The door was open and a woman with short blonde hair and black eyes was leaned against the door with an angry expression on her face.

Daisy looked at her and sighed. "I'm sorry," she said, quietly.

The woman stepped outside, grabbed Daisy by her hair and dragged her inside. The young girl didn't say anything and the door closed.

* * *

Astro's eyes flinched lightly and opened. He found himself on the table where he was born and his father and Dr. Elefun next to him. Dr. Tenma's face was buried in his arms, Dr. Elefun noticed that Astro was awake and laid his hand on Tenma's shoulder. He looked up at his robotic son.

"Astro! How do you feel, son?" he asked, worriedly.

"What happened?..." he murmured, but then he remembered. "Wait! Where is Atlas?!"

He sat up quickly and looked around.

"Astro, you won't fight him!" Dr. Tenma said.

"What?!" Astro asked and stood up on the floor. "If I don't fight him, the city is going to be in danger!"

"We're moving!" he said, strictly.

"What?! You can't do that to me! What about my friends, the place where I was born and the lives of everyone in this city?!" Astro yelled. "Don't you believe in me? You can move if you want, but I'm going to stay here!"

"I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU AGAIN!"  
The lab fell into silence and Dr. Tenma turned away.

Dr. Elefun watched as the young robot boy walked towards the door. The door opened automatically and he turned around.

He sighed. "You never lost me. I was always there," he said and the door closed again.

Dr. Tenma turned around again. "Astro..."

* * *

[Abercrombie:] Sup, guys! What's up?

[Zane:] Online

[Alejo:] Online

[Zane:] Nothing, just playing video games. x)

[Cora:] Online

[Cora:] Your writing skills improved. xD

[Zane:] I'm gonna take this as a compliment ._.

[Cora:] It is a compliment you genius! xD

[Alejo:] Just finished with homework, you? (:

[Ken:] Online

[Ken:] Nothing -3-

[Abercrombie:] I just got on LVL 28 at Robotapocalypse! :D

[Zane:] Ha! I'm on LVL 33! :p

[Alejo:] I'm on LVL 43!

[Kennedy:] LVL 45

[Cora:] That's nothing, I'm on LVL 83

[Alejo:] She won... ;-;

[Astro:] Online

[Astro:] Congratulations!

[Astro:] I just got home from the ministry.

[Kennedy:] Hey, what happened?

[Astro:] You'll see it on the news. Btw, I'm on LVL 174

[Abercrombie:] -.-

[Zane:] He won...

* * *

That evening, Astro sat on the couch in his light blue pajamas and watched TV while eating a bowl of cereal. Orrin didn't bother him while he was cleaning the coffee table, Astro didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk. After he finished, he rolled over to his loading station and dozed off. Right after that, the program which Astro was watching was interrupted by the news.

A young woman appeared on the screen with a serious expression on her face.  
"Good evening, Metro City. I'm sorry for interrupting this program but this is very important for everybody in this city!"

Astro put his bowl on the coffee table and listened closely.

On the left upper side of the screen, a photo of the ex-president Stone appeared. Astro's eyes widened.

"The ex-president Stone escaped from prison. Please stay at home for your own safety! Also, today there was another attack. The weird thing about this one is, that it was an orange robot boy who seemed to have the same abilities as our hero Astro Boy. Luckily, our hero saved the day! But it seemed like he got damaged badly."

A short clip of him and Atlas fighting was shown.

"Thank you for your attention and here's this week's weather!"

Astro didn't pay any attention to it, he just stared at his feet with his eyes widened.

"Stone escaped from prison... I can't believe it," Astro muttered to himself. "Atlas, a robot boy with the red core and the same powers as me appeared out of nowhere..." His eyes widened. "They're definitely working together!"

He looked over to the clock and sighed. "Dad must be arriving any minute," he muttered to himself and turned the TV off.

Astro stood up, put the bowl in the dishwasher and walked up the stairs. Just as the door behind him closed, he heard the entrance door open. Astro went into his bathroom, brushed his teeth, went back into his room and laid down on his bed. He turned to the window and watched the rain pouring down the sky and pattering heavily against the window. He didn't feel like flying that night.

* * *

"Are you going to fight him today?" Stone asked and took a huge sip of his beer bottle.

"Nope, I'm going to wait a few days so I can attack him by surprise," Atlas replied and stuffed a slice of pizza into his face.

"You're smarter than I thought," Stone admitted.

"I told you that you won't be disappointed," he said.

"Yeah whatever, but I got an even better idea!" Stone said.

"What?" Atlas asked.

"Hehe. You'll see," Stone said and rubbed his hands together in a devilish way.

* * *

"Astro!" Alejo greeted when Astro walked into the classroom.

"Hey, guys," Astro said and looked at his friends. "Uhm, where's Daisy?"

"Not here," Abercrombie said.

"By the way, what happened yesterday?" Cora asked. "I saw what happened on the news!"

Astro shrugged. "Well, yeah. There was this orange robot boy and yeah. We fought."

"Did you get hurt?" Kennedy asked, worriedly.

"Not really," Astro replied and forced himself into a realistic looking smile.

"That's good," Zane said.

Then Mr. Mustachio walked into the classroom and everyone took their seat.

"Good morning students!" Mr. Mustachio said.

Astro didn't really pay attention to him and stared at Daisy's empty seat.

* * *

"Dr. Elefun?" Dr. Tenma asked.

The old scientist turned around. "Yes, Tenma?"

"Am I a good father?" he asked.

Dr. Elefun's eyes widened. "Why are you asking that, Tenma?"

"It's just-" he sat down on his work chair. "-I don't think that I'm a good father. Yesterday I could see the disappointment in Astro's eyes. When I arrived at my penthouse, he was already asleep so I couldn't talk to him."

"Don't say that, Tenma. You're a great father. You worry about your son and try to protect him, even though you know that you can't always protect him!" Dr. Elefun replied. "You should go home today a bit earlier and talk to Astro."

Dr. Tenma sighed. "Thanks, Elefun."

The old scientist smiled kindly and continued working on their newest project.

* * *

**Ladies and Gentlemen, that was the fourth chapter!**

**I really hope you enjoyed it!**

**To those who have already seen the Astro Boy Anime series (2003),(1980) or (1963) should already know Atlas.**

**Here's my question:  
Which version do you like the most?**

**\- Captain Atom manga (1951)**

**\- Astro Boy manga (1952)**

**\- Astro Boy series (1959) (live-action)**

**\- Astro Boy series (1963)**

**\- Astro Boy "The hero of space movie" (1964) (Only in Japan)**

**\- Astro Boy comics (1965)**

**\- Marine Express (1979) (movie)**

**\- Astro Boy series (1980)**

**\- Astro Cat manga (1986)**

**\- Astro Boy American comic series (1987)**

**\- Last mystery of the 20th century movie (2000) (movie)**

**\- Astro Boy**** shorts and movies based on the 2003 version**** (2001-2005) (Only in Japan)**

**\- Astro Boy manga (2003)**

**\- Astro Boy series (2003)**

**\- Pluto manga (2003)**

**\- Ravex in Tezuka World (2009)**

**\- Astro Boy movie (2009)**

**\- Astro Boy movie sequel comic (2010)**

**\- Little Astro Boy (2014)**

**\- Atom the Beginning manga (2014)**

**\- Atom the Beginning anime series (2017)**

**Upcoming Astro Boy reboots:**

**\- Go Astro Boy Go**

**\- Astro Boy reboot (2015 trailer)**

** My favorites are the 2003 anime version, the 2009 movie, the Astro Cat manga, and the last mystery of the 20th century. :3**


	5. A new student

**CHAPTER 5**

**A NEW STUDENT**

Astro was again sitting on the couch and watching TV while Orrin was preparing dinner for Dr. Tenma.

Astro looked down at his watch. "Good, he'll arrive in 40 min-"

The entrance door opened.

"-utes"

The robot boy froze and stared at the TV, hoping that Dr. Tenma won't start a conversation.

The scientist hung up his coat and placed his suitcase on his chair at the table. He looked into the kitchen and then fixed a glance on Astro. He sighed and made his way towards him.

The scientist leaned against the back of the couch and looked at the TV. "You like that old BlackJack show?"

Astro crossed his arms and looked into another direction, avoiding eye contact at any rate.

Dr. Tenma sighed and looked over to the clock. "Shouldn't you be in bed right now?"

Astro frowned and looked at him. "Shouldn't you be searching for a new job right now?"

"Whoa, calm down," the scientist said. He wasn't expecting that reaction out of Astro and sat down next to him.

"How am I supposed to stay calm if we're going to move?!" Astro asked.

Orrin raced into the living room. "WHAT?! W-we're moving?!"

He fixed a glance at the two. "O-oh, sorry for interrupting..." He went back into the kitchen, still freaked out.

Dr. Tenma looked back at Astro. "Look, I-"

"No," Astro interrupted him. "Don't you trust me with this? I once fought the red core and won! I can't just leave the people and my friends here to die just because of my own safety! That's not fair, dad!"

Dr. Tenma sighed, he knew that Astro had a point, a very important one.

"Listen, I can understand you, I get your point," he said. "But you also have to be able to see things through my perspective. You're my only son, the only family I have left. You're putting yourself in danger for the others, that shows that you're a real hero. But then there's me who has to repair the huge damage your fights with enemies cause and it's not small.-"

Astro felt guilty and had a sad expression on his face.

"-The red core had already caused enough damage to everyone and now it's back," the scientist said. "And... I'm sorry for yelling at you, Astro."

Tenma looked at him, not exactly knowing what Astro was about to say. Well, he didn't say anything because the robot boy hugged him. Dr. Tenma smiled warmly and hugged his son back.

"Are we still going to move?" Astro asked.

Dr. Tenma sighed with a smile. "No, son. We're staying."

"Am I allowed to fight Atlas?"

The scientist released the hug and looked into Astro's eyes.

"Be careful."

Astro smiled and hugged him again. "Thanks, dad."

Dr. Tenma rubbed his son's back. "Good, now go to bed. It's late already."

Astro released the hug. "Can I at least finish watching this episode?"

Dr. Tenma glanced over to the TV.

_"I'll operate on him for 50.000.000 yen!" BlackJack exclaimed._

"That guy is expensive," Tenma muttered.

Astro started snickering. "He is."

Dr. Tenma smiled and stood up. "Alright, but just this one and then it's bedtime for you."

"I knooooow," Astro replied in an annoyed, but happy tone.

* * *

"You gotta be kidding me..."

"I'm not kidding," Stone said. "This is a great plan. Admit it!"

Atlas looked different, he looked like a human boy. He had pale skin and his red shoulder-length hair was tied together. He had green eyes and wore a normal outfit, kids his age wore.

"Yeah, but I look ridiculous in this!" Atlas said.

"Not as ridiculous as you normally do," Stone muttered.

"What?"

Stone sighed, annoyed. "Just do as I say and he'll be dead before he even realizes it."

"Yessir," the orange robot boy said and turned to the door. "I'll go outside for a bit, you know, destroy some human dreams."

"Whatever, I don't care," Stone said and turned around to mind his own business.

Atlas left the hideout.

"Whatever, I don't care," he mimicked Stone in a high-pitched voice.

He kicked an empty soda can and sat down on a rock. The stars caught his eyes and he looked up, admiring them. He realized what he just did and snorted, looking away.

"Stupid stars!" he muttered. "You don't even know what I went through!"

He stood up and looked at the sky again. "Stupid humans look at you and admire you while you just float there in space, doing nothing! You don't have emotions or loved ones, just yourself!"

He balled his hands into fists and sat down, trying to calm down again. "Stupid humans! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

Atlas noticed that his anger was way too big and stood up. He lifted his fist and cried out while hitting the rock. It shattered into tiny pieces and Atlas huffed while shaking his hand.

"Screw this," he said and looked into the sky. He exclaimed. "Be prepared, Astro! I'm gonna kick your butt and enjoy it!"

* * *

Cora greeted Astro the next morning when he entered the classroom.

"Hey, Astro!"

Astro waved at her and sat down.

"Are you excited to get to know the new student?" Cora asked.

"I don't know. Maybe?" he said and chuckled.

Abercrombie slammed his hand on Astro's desk.

"Sup guys!" he greeted and Kennedy and Alejo appeared after him.

"What's new?" Alejo asked.

The kids shrugged.

Then Zane entered and sat down next to Cora. "Watcha talkin' about?"

"Guys? Did you hear about that Rocket Ball club?" Kennedy asked. "It's new and searching for new members, is anyone of you interested?"

"Rocket Ball?" Astro asked.

"Don't tell me you don't know what Rocket Ball is," Alejo said in surprise.

"You can't be from Metro City if you don't know what Rocket Ball is," Cora said.

"I heard about it but I don't know how to play it," he explained.

"Then you should visit that club, they'll explain it and I'm sure that it's a lot of fun!" Kennedy said.

"What about you?" Astro asked.

"I have a lot of things to do and don't have any time," he explained.

"_cough cough_ School stuff _cough cough_," Abercrombie murmured.

"I can hear you," Kennedy replied in a slightly annoyed tone.

Then Mr. Mustachio entered and the kids took their seats.

"Students, today we're receiving a new student," he said and turned to the door. "You may come in."

The door opened and a boy, the same height as Astro with green eyes entered. His red shoulder-length hair was tied together. A few girls squealed slightly and blushed when they saw him. It was Atlas, but nobody knew.

Astro frowned, something was odd about that student in his eyes. Maybe it was the smirk on his face?

"Please introduce yourself," Mr. Mustachio said.

The boy turned to the class and smiled slightly in a devilish way. "Hello, I am Daichi Tokugawa. It's nice to meet you."

When Astro heard his voice, something lighted up in his head. He had heard that voice somewhere before.

"Good, now take a seat," Mr. Mustachio said.

Daichi walked towards Astro, Astro remembered that the seat next to him was empty.

The redhead put down his backpack and sat down.

"Actually, this seat is already taken," Astro said.

"By me," the redhead whispered with a devilish grin.

Astro frowned slightly and looked back at the screen of his desk.

In the middle of the lesson, Daichi raised his hand.

"Yes, Daichi?" the teacher asked.

"May I go to the bathroom?" he asked.

"Sure," the teacher said continued with his lesson.

Astro glared at the redhead as he left the room. He felt that something was up but ignored that feeling.

What a big mistake! You know why? Because a few moments after Daichi left the room, the alarms went off.

"The school is under attack!" the principal yelled through the speaker. "Leave the building as fast as possible before- AAAHHHH!"

They heard explosions, the school started shaking and the lights went off. Students started screaming and running. Astro frowned and rocketed off the window, flying up to the roof where he saw Atlas already waiting for him.

"Why are you attacking my school?" Astro asked, angrily.

"I'm not attacking your school, I'm here to end your life!"

Then Atlas flew straight into Astro and started attacking him.

"You know that when the red and blue core fight against each other, both die," Astro reminded him.

"Well, I'm gonna prove that you're wrong!"

The two robot boys started fighting with their arms cannons and Atlas managed to hit Astro. The young robot fell, landing at the front of the school building and wheezed.

"Don't give up, Astro! You can do this!" Kennedy yelled and ran away quickly.

"Thanks," he wheezed quietly.

Then he looked up and saw Atlas flying right towards him. He closed his eyes, but before he could hit him, something he could have never expected happened.

You know what? HA! CLIFFHANGER! xD See ya in a few days. -

* * *

**That's it with the fifth chapter!**

**I really hope you enjoyed it!**

**Here's my question:**

**Do you know the Anime series BlackJack and Dororo? They're also from Osamu Tezuka, the man who invented Astro Boy.**


	6. Zoran

**CHAPTER 6**

**ZORAN**

"Don't touch my brother!" Astro heard a little girl yell.

"Get out of my way!" Atlas yelled.

Astro sat up and noticed that his arm was badly injured. Without looking up, he said. "Hey, you shouldn't be here, it's dangerous."

"I'm your sister! I'm here to protect you!" the girl said.

The confused robot boy looked up and made a jump when he saw her.

Right in front of him stood a girl about 8 or 9 years old with short black hair and two spikes at the back of her head, one on each side and both pointing up. She looked like she really was his younger sister, she had his face.

"Who are you?" Astro asked.

"Oh, no! Are you deaf?" she asked, worriedly. She then folded her hands to a microphone. "I'm your SISTER!"

"How is that possible?! Who built you?" he asked.

"Our father!"

"You mean Dr. Tenma?"

She smiled innocently. "Mhm!"

Atlas pointed with his arm cannon at her, Astro noticed it and quickly jumped up, activating his arm cannon. He hid the little girl version of himself behind him while they continued fighting with their arm cannons.

"Go hide in a safe place!" Astro said.

"No! I'm going to fight **with** you!" she said.

"GO!" he yelled and hit Atlas' head.

Atlas growled in anger and rased towards Astro at full speed. But he didn't manage to reach Astro.

The orange robot boy grabbed his ears when he heard the loud screaming of a little girl. The floor started shaking. But the screaming didn't affect Astro at all.

"SHUT UUUUUUP!" Atlas yelled.

Atlas's ears began letting slight puffs of smoke.

"That's enough!" Astro said and smiled at the little girl.

She stopped screaming and smiled at Astro. The robot boy walked over to Atlas.

"Are you giving up?" he asked.

Atlas looked at him with a confused expression on his face. "What?!"

"Are you giving up?" he asked again.

"I can't hear you, you moron!" the orange robot said. "That little monster made me deaf! But I will come back and destroy both of you!"

Then the orange robot boy took off and flew away.

Astro turned back to the robot girl. "Now tell me, who are you again?"

"I guess I made you deaf too," she said with a worried look on her face.

Astro laughed under his breath and the little girl robot started giggling.

"So, you're telling me that Dr. Tenma created you and that you're my sister?" Astro asked.

"Yes!" she responded with a wide smile.

"Okay, but just to be sure, let's go to the ministry of science," he said.

"There's no need to," they heard a familiar voice say.

They turned their heads to the direction it came from and saw Dr. Tenma walking towards them.

"Great, I guess it's time for you to explain a few things," Astro said and snickered.

"Not before I've fixed your arm, it looks horrible," the scientist said.

Astro gazed down at his arm. "Yeah..."

They went into the limousine, Orrin was already expecting them.

Astro sat down with Zoran at the back and Dr. Tenma sat down on one of the seats directed at them.

"By the way, my name is Zoran!" the robot girl said.

"Zoran?" Astro asked and looked over to Dr. Tenma. "THAT'S how you named her?"

"Why? I like that name!" Zoran said.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Dr. Tenma asked with a slight smile.

Astro snorted and looked out of the window. "Whatever."

"What was that place where we were before?" Zoran asked.

"It's called a school. Kids go there to learn, so they can become successful when they're adults," Dr. Tenma explained and crossed his legs.

"It's also a place where you can find friends, have fun and find your talents," Astro added.

"Cool! I wanna go to school too!" she squealed.

"We'll talk about that later," the scientist said.

Suddenly Astro realized something and looked over to Dr. Tenma again. "Dad? How is it possible that Zoran has her own character without any programs or uh... memories?"

"Well, the only programs she has are social skills, basic knowledge, basic maths, and the alphabet. She needs them so she can communicate with other people and fit kids her age. Now she's developing her own character," he explained.

"Why did you build her?" he asked.

"I thought that it's always somewhat boring at home, there's that cold silence, so I thought that maybe another child could add more positive vibes and colors at our home," he explained.

"Oh! Colors! I love colors!" Zoran said, happily.

"Really?" Astro asked and chuckled. "What's your favorite color?"

"Uhm... I like red and orange aaaand yellow! and green... oh! and blue and... Uhm... purple! aaaaand pink!" she said and smiled.

"So you like every color?" Astro asked and smiled.

"Yes!" she said, happily.

"By the way, Dad, with what energy is she running?" Astro asked.

"The meteorite that carried your blue core inside had some empty cores with it which ones were blue cores. We used one of them with some blue energy left in the ministry and made another blue core," Dr. Tenma explained. "I still wonder though, where did the blue and red core come from?"

"You still haven't found out?" Astro asked and leaned back. "Weird..."

"What is that whole red and blue thing?" Zoran asked.

Astro patted her head. "We're talking about the energy we're running with, you know, science and that stuff."

"Ohhh," she said with a face of realization. "You mean boring adults stuff?"

Astro laughed under his breath. "Yeah, boring adults stuff."

* * *

Atlas grunted and kicked the door open of his hideout.

"Did you kill him?" Stone asked.

Atlas sat down at the couch angrily and started sticking his fingers into his ears and out. "Ah, finally!"

"I asked you something," Stone said. "Did you kill him?"

"No," Atlas said, angrily. "That annoying little brat of his sister appeared! Since when did he have a sister?!"

"Looks like you need help to defeat him," Stone said.

"What?! No! I will do it myself!" Atlas said.

"Listen, Atlas! I want that robot to suffer for what he did to me! He ruined my image and now everyone hates me!" Stone yelled.

Then he went into another room and came back, dragging someone with him by its wrist. He pushed the person towards Atlas, it was Daisy! She was almost as tall as him but smaller.

She wore a short red dress with long sleeves, a white apron, and red ballerinas. She looked away and didn't seem like she was in a good mood.

Atlas' eyes widened. "Who are you?"

"She's your new partner," Stone said.

"A girl?! You must be kidding!" he said.

"I'm not kidding. She has the same powers as you," Stone said with a devilish grin.

Atlas' eyes widened with a look of realization. "So, you mean she's a-"

Stone nodded.

Then he kicked Daisy what made her fall on the floor. "You will follow my orders, I am your father!"

She sat up again. "Yes, sir..."

He grabbed her hair and dragged her up, so they were in the same eye height. "And I swear, if you disobey me, I will take you apart with my own hands!"

"Yes," Daisy wheezed and Stone let her go.

She fell down on the ground, devastated.

"Is she also going to go to school?" Atlas asked.

"No, I need her for my own entertainment, if you know what I mean," Stone said and left the room again.

With a disgusted look of realization, Atlas took a step back and gazed down at Daisy, noticing that she was crying.

Atlas balled his hands into fists while thinking. "Don't feel bad for her, Atlas! You're the keeper of the red core, remember that!"

He sighed. "Stop crying. It won't help you."

She kept crying what made Atlas sigh in annoyance. He sat down beside her.

"Uhm... my name is Atlas," he said, trying to not sound too nice. "Yeah, so... what's yours?"

Daisy kept quiet and looked away.

Atlas sighed again. "Come on, I'm not a sick idiot with ballon pants like Stone."

"But you're still working with him," she said. "That still makes you a bad person."

"All I'm doing is taking revenge on humans," Atlas explained.

Daisy looked him straight in the eyes. "Then why are you attacking Astro?"

"Because if he dies, I might be able to take my revenge on humans. Now with Stone, it's way easier," he explained.

"What have humans done to you that you hate them so much?" she asked.

"I don't like to talk about my past," he explained. "But you remind me of someone I once knew."

"Really?" Daisy asked, curiously. "Who was that person?"

"As I said, I don't like to talk about my past," Atlas reminded her. "May I know your name now?"

Daisy sighed. "I was named Daisy."

"What do you mean by named?" Atlas asked, confused.

"I'm not actually Daisy," she explained. "It's a bit complicated and I also don't like to talk about my past."

"Deal, I won't tell you about my past and you won't tell me about yours," Atlas said with a smug.

"Deal," Daisy said and looked away again while standing up.

* * *

"And done!" Dr. Elefun said and closed all the programs. He turned to Dr. Osamu. "That's how it's done."

Dr. Osamu wrote everything down. "Thank you, professor!"

Astro sat up and looked at his now repaired arm. Zoran laughed happily and jumped on Astro. "You're cured! You're cured!"

"I know," Astro said, smiling.

"Now let's go home," Dr. Tenma said.

Astro put Zoran on the floor and jumped down himself. The little robot girl ran over to Dr. Tenma with a wide smile and Astro went after her.

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Zoran said, happily.

"I'm coming," Astro said with a slight laugh. He turned to Dr. Elefun before he left. "Thank you a lot, Dr. Elefun!"

"No problem!" the old scientist said, smiling.

Zoran took Astro's hand and they walked next to Dr. Tenma. A few scientists that passed by, smiled at them while they left the building.

"Can we go to the park?" Zoran asked and looked at Astro.

Astro looked over to Dr. Tenma and the scientist nodded.

"I'm busy today, but you can go together," Dr. Tenma said.

"Sure, why not?" Astro said.

"Yay!" Zoran squeaked and pulled at her brother's arm. "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"

"You're quite strong," Astro said and snickered.

"Bye, daddy!" Zoran said and waved over to Dr. Tenma.

"See you later, kids!" the scientist said and watched the kids go with a smile on his face.

"What do you want to do in the park?" Astro asked.

"Go to the playground!" Zoran said.

People at the sidewalk watched the kids and a few paparazzi took photos. Astro felt uncomfortable with the people staring at them and taking photos, but he also didn't want to disappoint his just a few hours old sister and kept walking. Luckily they finally arrived at the park and they sat down on a nearby bench. The people passing by kept staring at them and others hid behind trees and took photos.

"Astro?" the little girl robot asked.

"Uh, yeah?" he replied and snapped out of his thoughts.

"Why are those people staring at us?" she asked, innocently.

"Not bragging, but I'm kind of famous in this city," Astro explained and pointed at his chest.

"What does famous mean?" she asked.

"Famous means if a person is known for something, like singing, dancing, acting," he explained.

"Oh, now I understand. But... for what are you famous for?" Zoran asked.

"Well, there's a long story behind that," Astro explained.

"Really? I want to hear it!" she said.

Astro snickered. "I fought a big robot and saved the city!"

"Really? How?" Zoran asked.

Astro took Zoran's hands and punched with them the air. "I did this and this and then the robot was on the ground! The people were saved and now we're all happy!"

"Wow!" Zoran said, her eyes sparkling. "You're a hero?"

"Correct!" Astro said. "Hero's help others."

"I want to become a hero too and fight bad robots like this and this!" Zoran said and punched the air.

"With a bit of practice, soon you'll be able to fight with me," Astro said and patted her head.

"Really?" Zoran asked, her eyes full of hope.

"Really," Astro said and turned to the playground. "Why don't you go play? But be careful because you're different from other kids."

"Different?"

He nodded. "You're way stronger than they are. You can't hurt them in any way, we're robots and we're meant to help humans."

"I don't understand, what do they do for us?" she asked.

Astro shrugged with a slight smile. "I'll explain that to you later."

"Alright!" she said and got up.

Astro watched as she ran over to the playground and smiled slightly. _What do they do for us? _Zoran's words echoed in his mind. He tried to shrug it off and pulled out his phone to see if he had received any messages from his friends.

* * *

[Astro] Hey, guys! What's up? :)

[Kennedy] Online

[Cora] Online

[Kennedy] Nothing and you? How did the fight go, anyways?

[Zane] Online

[Cora] Good question, what happened? :O

[Astro] Pretty good, the damage this time wasn't as big as the last time we fought. But you won't believe what happened!

[Zane] Wut?

[Astro] My dad built me a sister! :D

[Kennedy] A sister?!

[Cora] Whoa, slow down. Tell me exactly what happened!

[Zane] Cool! Is she younger or older?

[Astro] She's younger and...

* * *

"Hey! Give that back!" a little boy shouted.

Astro ignored it and kept writing about what happened that day.

"But I wanna play with it too!"

Astro looked up quickly. It was his sister's voice. He saw her fighting with a kid her age over a toy truck. Zoran won and snatched it off his hands.

"Mommy!" the boy cried and a woman came running over.

Astro quickly sent the message and put his phone in his pocket again while running over to them.

The woman was consoling her child while Zoran just stared at them in confusion.

"Zoran!" Astro said.

The little girl robot looked over to him.

Astro kneed down in front of her. "You can't just take someone's toys without asking them."

"But he wasn't even playing with it!" she said and crossed her arms.

"It doesn't matter, now you have to apologize. Come on," he said and turned her to the boy.

The boy had already calmed down.

"Hey?" Zoran asked and caught his attention. "I'm sorry for taking your toy truck without your permission."

She handed it over to him, but he gave it back to her and smiled. "Let's play together!"

"Sure!" Zoran said and smiled.

Astro stood up and smiled at the two kids playing with the toy cars.

"Being young is simple, huh?" Astro thought.

He sadly remembered how Toby rarely went to a playground. He wanted to become a scientist just like his father and rarely enjoyed his childhood. He was always solving math problems or reading a book, he wanted to impress his father. Sadly Dr. Tenma wasn't often there and didn't keep his promises, which made Toby feel neglected. He treasured the moments he was able to spend with his father, he even kept the photo on his night table where he attended the astrophysics contest and won the first place. Dr. Tenma was with him on the photo, he looked very proud.

"Hey, aren't you the famous Astro Boy?"

Astro snapped out of his thoughts and turned around, it was the boy's mother.

He smiled nervously. "I guess?"

"Oh, that's great," she said and pulled out two photos of Astro off her purse with a pen. "My daughter is a huge fan of you. Could you please sign these two photos?"

"Sure," Astro said and signed them with a smile.

"Thank you a lot, she's going to be so happy!" she said and put the photos back into her purse.

"You're welcome," he said and went back to the bench where he sat before.

After ten minutes, Zoran came back again. "Big brother!"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" she said and pulled at his hand.

"Already done playing?" Astro asked and stood up.

"Yeah and I have a question," she said.

"Go ahead," he said.

"What is a mommy?" Zoran asked.

"Oh, uh... A mommy also has other names like mom, mama, mother and they're the female version of a father," he explained.

"Why don't we have a mommy?" she asked, innocently.

"Because of... Uhm... it's hard to explain, but there are also families with one father without a mother and others with just a mother without a father," Astro explained.

"Okay!" she said with a wide smile.

Astro never actually thought about why Toby never had a mother, but now that Zoran had mentioned it, it's a good question. The robot boy looked down, he searched through Toby's memories and went to the very beginning.

Astro's eyes widened, he found a blurred short memory of a woman with brown hair carrying him.

"Astro?" Zoran asked.

Astro snapped out of his thoughts again. "Uh, yeah?"

"Are you okay? You seem to be in deep thoughts today," she asked. "Or is that normal?"

"You noticed?" Astro asked. "No, normally I'm always paying full attention, but right now, there are so many things I'm thinking about.-"

Zoran stopped walking and turned her head to the left.

"Zoran?" Astro asked.

Zoran's eye's widened and she ran off.

"Zoran!" Astro yelled and ran after her.

She ignored him while leaving the footpath and running towards the trees.

"Where are you going! Come back here!" he shouted.

The little girl robot disappeared behind the trees.

"Zoran?!" Astro started to panic and looked around.

Then he found her sitting on the floor and holding something. He sighed in relief and walked towards her.

"Zoran, you should not just walk off like th-" Astro looked at what she was holding. "A bird?"

"It needs help," she said. "He fell off a tree."

"How can you tell?" he asked and kneed down next to her.

"He's talking to me," Zoran replied.

"T...talking to you?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

"He needs help! We need to go home and help him!" she said and stood up. "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"

"Wait!" Astro said and took his red t-shirt off, he wore a white one under it. "Cover the bird with my jacket."

Zoran took the jacket and wrapped the bird in the t-shirt. "Now let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"

"Wait," Astro said, again. "Flying is way faster! Uhm... you can fly, can you?"

"Uh, I guess," she said and stared down at her feet. They started burning in a light blue and then normal in yellow. She struggled a bit with her balance but then finally stood in the air.

"Good!" he said and rocketed up to her. "Now we can go!"

They both rocketed up into the sky at full speed.

"Is this your first time flying?" Astro asked.

She shook her head. "Remember that orange boy? I saw you on that thing called TV and flew off to find you."

"Oh, I see," he said. "That explains a few things."

"Oh! We're finally here!" Zoran said and pointed at the penthouse.

"Yeah," Astro said.

They landed at the balcony and entered quickly. Zoran laid the bird down on the coffee table and Astro searched through the books for an animal encyclopedia.

"You're back?" Dr. Tenma asked while he walked out of his room and went over to Zoran. "A dead bird? Kids, you're based on humans, not cats."

"No, daddy," Zoran said and pointed at the bird's chest. "Look! It's still alive."

"Oh, right," the scientist said. "You can communicate with animals."

"Those are unique powers you gave us," Astro said. "I have butt-guns and she can communicate with animals."

Zoran burst out laughing.

"Found it!" Astro said and pulled out two books from the shelf.

He went over to the coffee table and laid the books down. He flipped through the pages and stopped. Astro stood up, rushed over to the kitchen and came back with a popsicle.

"Eat this, quickly!" Astro said and gave Zoran the popsicle.

Dr. Tenma watched confused as Astro grabbed the first aid kit and laid it down on the coffee table.

"Orrin!" he called. "Please get me a small bowl with water."

The house robot went into the kitchen and Astro placed the bird in front of him.

Astro scanned him with his x-ray eyes. "His right-wing is damaged."

"Finished!" Zoran said and gave Astro the stick.

"Thanks," Astro said.

Orrin came back with the water and Dr. Tenma and Orrin sat down on the couch, watching closely what he was doing.

Astro cleaned the spot and spread the bird's wing, then he put the stick on it. He took the bandage from the first aid kit and wrapped it gently around the wing.

After 10 minutes, he leaned back. "Finished."

"How is he going to fly now?" Orrin asked.

"His bone needs to heal first. It's like when a human breaks its arm. They need a bandage for an amount of time so the bone can heal," Astro explained.

Zoran jumped up and hugged Astro. "Thank you, brother!"

"You could become a vet," Dr. Tenma said and laughed under his breath.

"What is a vet?" Zoran asked.

"A doctor for animals," Dr. Tenma explained.

"What is a doctor?" she asked.

"Someone who heals humans," he explained.

"Oh, now I understand," Zoran said and smiled innocently.

Then the bird stood up and started chirping.

"He sais thankyou," Zoran said.

Astro smiled and looked at the bird. "You're welcome."

The bird chirped happily.

"Daddy?" Zoran asked. "Can I keep him, pleeeeeeeease?"

"Zoran I..."

"Pleeeeeeeeeease, daddy?" she asked.

The scientist sighed. "I should really do something against your and Astro's puppy eyes."

"Yay!" Zoran yelped, happily and hugged him.

"But under one condition," he said. "That bird is your responsibility."

Zoran nodded. "Yes!"

"Good," he said with a smile.

"How are you going to name him?" Orrin asked.

"I don't know..." Zoran said.

"What about Tori?" Astro suggested.

"Tori?" Dr. Tenma asked.

"Yeah, it's the Japanese name for bird," Astro explained.

"I like that!" Zoran said with a wide smile. "Tori! Tori! Tori!"

Tori chirped happily.

"He likes it!" she said, happily.

* * *

**Well, this was the sixth chapter!**

**I hope you enjoyed it! :D**

**Here's my question:**

**Which name for Astro's little sister do you prefer? Zoran(2003), Uran(1980) or Astro Girl (1963)? I prefer Zoran, to be honest. :)**


	7. Something goes wrong

**CHAPTER 7**

**SOMETHING GOES WRONG**

Astro was sleeping deeply.

Something was coming near Astro. It was crawling towards his bed.

It stood up slowly and stared down at Astro.

It took one step on the bed and jumped up.

"BIG BROTHER!"

That something jumped on Astro stomach.

Astro's eyes widened quickly and he wheezed.

"BIG BROTHER!"  
That something was Astro's little sister.

Astro coughed and looked at his sister who was sitting on his stomach. "What happened!?"

"Nothing," she said with an innocent smile. "I just wanted to wake you up for school."

"You know, there's something called an alarm clock. It wakes me up," he explained.

He reached out for his alarm clock and deactivated it for later.

"Oh, okay," Zoran said and went off him.

She took the alarm clock and broke it into half.

Astro's eyes widened. "What the-"

"Now I am your alarm clock!" she said.

Astro snorted and quickly changed the subject. "Did dad buy you a new dress?"

Zoran looked down at her dark blue dress with white sleeves, a white-collar with a red ribbon and red boots just like Astros'.

"No, Dr. Elephant bought me this dress and daddy gave me the boots," she said.

"His name is Dr. Elefun," Astro corrected her got up from his bed. "You should go down and eat breakfast and continue sleeping because it's too early."

"Then why do you usually wake up at this time?" she asked.

"Because I have school," Astro said and went into his bathroom.

"Why is it so early?" she asked and followed him into his bathroom.

"Because of the school system," he explained and picked his toothbrush up.

"Oh, okay!" she said.

"Did you already brush your teeth?" Astro asked.

"Mhm," she nodded.

Then she turned around and left his bathroom.

After 7 minutes, Astro left his room and walked down the stairs with his backpack. Zoran was sitting on the couch and watching Kimba The White Lion.

Astro sat down at the table and laid down his backpack next to him, which caught Zoran's attention. She ran over to him and opened it.

"What's in there?" she asked.

Astro quickly snatched it off her hands. "Be careful, you could break them."

"Break what? I wanna know!" she said.

"Geez," Astro complained. "USB-cards and my phone."

"What are USB-cards?" Zoran asked.

"You can save information in them. Back then, people used books," Astro explained.

"Oh, okay!" she said.

"By the way, where's Orrin?" he asked and looked around.

"He left a note," Zoran said and handed it over to Astro.

_I went shopping for groceries, I'll be back at 10 am. Breakfast is on the table._

"Oh, no," Astro thought and looked at Zoran. "What if I just take her with me to school until Orrin comes back?"

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Astro sighed, took his phone and sent Orrin a message.  
"I'm going to take you to my school today."

"Really?" Zoran asked in excitement.

"But just for today because I'm in a high school. I need to ask dad to put you into an elementary school," he said.

"But I'm mentally 9 years old!" she said.

"Then you're supposed to be in third or fourth grade and that's in elementary school," Astro explained.

"Hmph!" Zoran crossed her arms.

"Did you feed Tori today?" Astro asked.

"Mhm!" she replied.

"Did you eat breakfast?"

"Mhm!"

"Good, then let's go," Astro said.

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Zoran said and turned the TV off.

Astro jumped off the balcony and so did Zoran.

"Aren't you going to fly?" she asked.

"Of course, but every morning I enjoy this breeze. Do you feel it?"

With a confused look, she concentrated on the air. A smiled grew on her face. "Uh, yes. I do!"

"Okay and now... I rocket into the sky at full speed!"

They both turned around with their feet facing the ground and rocketed at full speed into the sky.

"Woohoo!" Zoran yelled. "This is so cool!"

"Now follow me!" Astro said and they flew over the city.

"Pretty!" Zoran said and looked at the city in the morning sun.

"Look! My school is over there," Astro said and pointed at the Metro City high school.

They landed in front of the gates.

"And you need to behave when you're in school!" Astro said. "You need to sit at your desk when the teacher is teaching, you need to raise your hand and wait for the teacher to call you if you want to say something, you can't hurt anybody or curse, you need to respect everyone-"

Everyone looked at them, but mostly at Zoran.  
"Astro has a sister?"  
"Who's that little girl next to Astro?"

"-if the teacher asks-"

"Man, school is way more complicated than I expected!" Zoran cut him off and sighed.

Astro laughed under his breath. "It's alright. I'll ask my teacher, Mr. Mustachio if you can sit next to me."

They entered the school building.

"Whoa! This looks so cool!" Zoran said turned her head in all directions.

"Keep walking, we can't block the way," Astro said and took her hand.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To my locker and then to class," he replied.

"What is a locker?" Zoran asked.

"This," Astro replied and opened his locker.

The little girl robot looked around while Astro put his USB cards into his locker. She was excited and confused at the same time.

"Come, I'll introduce you to my friends!" Astro said and took her hand.

"How many friends do you have?" she asked.

"Uhm, 8, but 2 or 3 are not here today," he explained.

"I have one friend," Zoran said.

"Who?" Astro asked with a slight smile. "The boy from the playground?"

"His name is Jack!" she said with a wide smile. "And he's 8 years old!"

"Oh, that's great!" he said.

They entered the classroom and all eyes fell on Zoran again.

Cora smiled and walked over to them. "Hey, Astro! Who is that?"

Astro looked down at Zoran with a smile. "Introduce yourself."

"I'm Zoran! I'm 9 and Astro is my brother!" she said, smiling.

"That's your sister?" Abercrombie asked.

Astro nodded.

"Cool!" Alejo and Zane said at the same time.

"You two look identical," Kennedy said.

Then Daichi and Mr. Mustachio entered the classroom and the kids took their seats. Zoran sat down on Daichi's seat and smiled at Astro.

"Sorry, but that's my seat," Daichi said.

"I'm Astro's sister and I can sit here if I want!" she said.

"Let's not make a scene and move," he said.

"Move yourself, tomato head!" Zoran said. "Before I make tomato salad out of-"

Astro panicked slightly and covered her mouth with his hand.

The students tried their best to hide their laughter. Daichi growled and Mr. Mustachio noticed what was happening.

"We have a new student?" he asked.

Astro stood up. "I'm sorry, Mr. Mustachio, but I hope you don't mind if she stays here for two hours until our Nani boot comes and picks her up."

The teacher sighed. "Today just as a condition, but next time she'll have to wait outside."

"Thank you," Astro said and sat down.

"What about me?" Daichi asked, annoyed.

"You can sit down behind Astro," he said.

Daichi didn't say anything but smiled devilishly.

Something was up, shouted Astro's mind.

"Alright, can someone solve this question?" Mr. Mustachio asked. "(a+5b)²"

Zoran raised her hand.

"Uh, yeah Uhm... what's your name?" Mr. Mustachio asked.

"Zoran!" she said.

"Yeah, what's the answer?" he asked.

Astro looked at her with a confused expression on his face.

"a²+10ab+25b²" she replied with a smile.

"Uh, that's correct," the teacher said and wrote the answer on the electric board.

"From where do you know that?" Astro asked. "I thought you had the knowledge of a nine-year-old."

"I don't know," she said. "I just know it."

But not a second later, the alarms went off again.

"THE SCHOOL IS UNDER ATTACK AGAIN! EVACUATE!" the principal yelled through the speaker.

The students started to freak out and run.

"Astro? What is going on?" Zoran asked with teary eyes. "I'm scared!"

Astro opened the window. "Go out and help the others evacuate!"

"But I want to be with you!" she cried.

Astro kneed down and laid his hands down on her shoulders. "Zoran, we're robots and we're meant to help humans! I need you to help others!"

Zoran gulped and nodded. Astro smiled slightly and she activated her rockets and flew off the window.

Astro sighed and ran towards the door, but then he was suddenly grabbed from behind by someone. That, someone, was holding him by his neck with his arm.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Daichi?" Astro asked.

"Atlas for you," he said and let him go.

Astro turned around immediately and looked at him. "What do you mean by 'Atlas'?"

Daichi started laughing hysterically and a strong red aura surrounded his body. His pale skin turned orange, his eyes turned black, his red hair turned blonde and his scrunchy and clothes ripped, revealing Atlas.

Astro's jaw dropped. He knew that something was wrong with Daichi!

"H-how-"

"Now, DIE!"  
Atlas pointed with his arm cannon at him and shot.

Astro flew through 7 walls and out of the school. Atlas flew through the holes Astro made and laughed.

He found Astro laying on the grass of the back of the school.

"Already giving up?!" he asked and crossed his arms.

Astro snorted and looked up. "Never!"

He shot Atlas in the chest and the orange robot flew back which gave Astro more time to prepare for his second attack.

The continued shooting and eventually found themselves on the school's rooftop.

After the two, shot each other a few times on, Atlas fell down and held his arm in pain. Astro used the chance and stood in front of him.

"Are you giving up?" he asked.

Atlas snorted and started laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny?" Astro asked.

Suddenly Astro felt someone grabbing him from behind.

"I'm sorry," he heard Daisy's voice say from behind him before he felt a piercing pain going through his body and everything going dark.

Astro passed out and fell roughly off the rooftop and landed on the school ground, in front of Zoran. She screamed and with tears in her eyes and looked up at Atlas and Daisy. Daisy was wearing everything black, her face was unable to be seen and she was holding something metallic. Tears were rolling down her face.

Zoran glanced back to Astro and then ran away.

"Stop crying and get her!" Atlas yelled at Daisy.

Daisy's shaking hand, let the electric device go. "I can't."

"Ugh, it doesn't matter anymore. She took off and disappeared," he said and snorted angrily. "Let's just take this flying horns head and take off."

Daisy nodded slightly.

"Now stop crying," he said, annoyed. "It won't turn things for the better!"

* * *

**Yes, I just left you on another cliffhanger! xD**

**"FBI! OPEN THE DOOR! YOU JUST LEFT YOUR VIEWERS ON ANOTHER OF YOUR STUPID CLIFFHANGERS!"**

**Well, this is it with the seventh chapter!**

**I really hope you enjoyed it! **

**Here's my question:  
Who is your favorite character after Astro? Mine's Toby! ^^**


	8. Where's Astro?

**CHAPTER 8**

**WHERE'S ASTRO?**

"How is it possible that he was kidnapped in front of a bunch of people and no one knows where they went?!" Dr. Tenma cried and stared at a monitor. "Stone escaped from prison, Atlas has the red core and they're both after Astro!"

Zoran finally broke down into tears and hugged Dr. Elefun tightly. "I want big brother baaaaaaaack!"

Dr. Elefun rubbed her back. "Don't worry, we're going to find Astro."

"R-really?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure about that," the old scientist said with a warm smile.

Zoran kept crying in Dr. Elefun's arms.

Dr. Tenma sighed. "This isn't going to work. Let's just hope that the police finds him."

"Tenma, have some patience. Remember why you gave him his weapons?" Dr. Elefun asked.

"It doesn't matter! It's blue against red! Again! Even the red core alone is dangerous enough!" the scientist said, desperately. "It killed Toby, then Astro, who miraculously survived, and now it's back!"

Dr. Elefun sighed while looking down at Zoran. "Are you going home tonight?"

"I doubt that," Dr. Tenma said.

"Then, I'm going to bring Zoran home and then go to the police station, again. It's late," the old scientist said.

"But I wanna stay with daddy!" Zoran said.

"Zoran, daddy is busy right now and it's already past your bedtime," Dr. Elefun said.

Zoran started sobbing again, but she obeyed and walked with the old scientist towards the exit.

"Bye, daddy," she said, before leaving the lab.

Dr. Tenma sighed. "Bye, sweety..."

* * *

Somewhere dark and cold...

...hidden in a place, away from Metro City...

...Astro woke up.

He groaned slightly in pain and opened his eyes. He was sitting on a metallic chair with his wrists and legs tied together. While moving, he noticed that his clothes were missing.

"You woke up," a familiar voice said.

"Who are you?" Astro hissed.

Then a weak and small light turned on and lightened up the room. There he saw Stone, standing in the right corner and grinning devilish.

"Your worst nightmare," he replied.

"HEY! You stole my line!" Atlas yelled from the left corner.

"Don't embarrass me in front of my enemy!" Stone yelled back.

Astro couldn't help but laugh at that situation.

"Stop laughing! You're supposed to be scared!" Stone said.

"Oh really?" Astro asked, sarcastically. "You know, I could just free myself with my strength from those wires."

Astro then tried to destroy them but got strongly electrified. "What the-?!"

Stone snickered gloomily. "Those are special wires. If you try to break them, they'll just electrify you. If you manage to break them, your wires and brain will be cooked- uh... FRIED by then."

Astro frowned. "What do you want from me?"

Stone growled. "You're still wondering why I kidnapped you?! You ruined my image! Ruined my dream! Because of you, I got arrested and Metro City doesn't belong to me anymore!"

"So, basically everything you want is Metro City. Right?" Astro asked.

"And some sweet revenge," Stone added with a cold smile. "But of course, before I kill you, I'm going to make you and your stupid little family suffer."

Atlas snickered. "What about we kill his family and friends in front of his eyes?"

"NO!" Astro cried. "Please... You can do anything you want with me. Torture me, make me suffer, or kill me! But please... don't hurt them!"

"Very well," Stone said.

Atlas and Stone snickered and left the room. Astro grunted angrily and looked down at his legs in frustration. Suddenly, the room started shaking, he heard a train passing by.

* * *

Zoran sat on the windowsill, hugging her teddy bear and watching the rain pour down the sky. She liked that teddy bear. Astro gave it to her.

_"Astro?" she whispered and shook him slightly._

_Astro murmured and woke up. "Zoran? What's wrong?"_

_"I can't sleep," she said and gulped. "I'm not used to this."_

_Astro laughed under his breath and sat up. "You can't get used to sleeping," he explained kindly and stood up. "It's something everyone normally does."_

_"Where are you going?" she asked and watched him open his closet._

_He pulled out a brown teddy bear with a dark blue __neckerchief__ and handed it over to her._

_"That's a teddy bear," he explained. "He's lonely. Would you give him your love?"_

_Zoran fixed a gaze on the teddy bear and then at Astro. She nodded with an innocent smile on her face._

_"Good," Astro said. "Now go to sleep."_

_Zoran smiled tiredly and walked towards the door. "Thanks, brother Astro."_

Tori jumped towards Zoran and climbed on her shoulder, his wing hasn't healed yet.

"I'm alright, Tori," Zoran whispered with a sad smile. "I'm just missing Astro and daddy is being strange lately."

Then Orrin entered the room.

"Zoran?" he asked.

Zoran turned to him. "Hm?"

"Don't you worry, I'm sure that Astro is fine. We just have to wait," he said and rolled over to the window.

"I'm worried about daddy. He seems tired and sad," the little girl robot said.

"He's worried about Astro," Orrin explained. "He's trying to find out where he is."

Zoran smiled slightly. "Does that mean that big brother is coming back?"

"Yes," he said and nodded. "Now please go to sleep. It's already late and Dr. Elefun left."

* * *

Meanwhile in the chat of Astro's friends:

[Cora:] Guys! Everyone is coming online, right now!

[Alejo:] Online

[Alejo:] What's wrong?

[Zane:] Online

[Abercrombie:] Online

[Kennedy:] Online

[Kennedy:] Yeah?

[Cora:] Good. We need to talk about what happened yesterday! The police were here moments ago and asked me about Astro.

[Abercrombie:] What are we going to do? It's 1 am already.

[Kennedy:] I don't care what time it is. I'm worried about Astro.

[Alejo:] Me too. Atlas is evil.

[Cora:] We all know that Stone is out there and Atlas is obviously working with him, right?

[Abercrombie:] Yeah?

[Cora:] This means that they must be hiding somewhere out of Metro City so they won't get caught so easily.

[Kennedy:] Makes sense, but they could be hiding EVERYWHERE!

[Zane:] Yeah, but it can't be that far if those two robots managed to kidnap Astro without anyone noticing them on their way.

[Cora:] Zane and I know the surface like our pockets, even though it's not a junkyard anymore. What if we meet up right now and go search for him?

[Alejo:] We should do that tomorrow night.

[Cora:] Why?!

[Kennedy:] Maybe Astro comes back by himself till tomorrow or more people report seeing him. It might help us and we would be way more prepared.

[Zane:] Cora, he's right.

[Cora:] I guess.

[Cora:] Then tomorrow night!

[Abercrombie:] Why especially at night?

[Cora:] Wouldn't it be suspicious, seeing a few kids on their hoverboards, knocking on the floor to see if there was a secret entrance?

[Alejo:] If they see a few kids do that at night, they would probably call the police.

[Zane:] Nobody's on the surface at night.

[Kennedy:] That's a great plan and all, but the only and big problem are our parents.

[Abercrombie:] We could put some pillows and clothes under our blankets so they assume it's us!

[Kennedy:] I didn't know you were able to think.

[Abercrombie:] Shut up, smartypants!

[Zane:] Alright, tomorrow night at our spot at the Metro City Park at 1 am!

[Alejo:] See ya tomorrow!

[Kennedy:] Goodnight!

[Cora:] Night

[Abercrombie:] GN

[Zane:] Good n8

* * *

Astro groaned in frustration. He was tired, but couldn't sleep because he was hungry and was tied up on a chair. He tried again to break the wires, but the pain was too strong.

"Stop harming yourself. If it breaks, you'll be already cooked by then," he heard Daisy's voice say from behind him.

"Daisy?" he asked.

Silence.

"Daisy, I know it's you. Why are you doing this? Aren't we friends?" Astro asked and turned his head several times to get to look at her.

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered.

"If you're sorry, then free me! My dad must be worried," he said.

Daisy stood up, grabbed a chair and sat down in front of him. Astro noticed the sharp and thick necklace she was wearing.

"What's with that necklace," Astro asked.

"N-nothing," she said and looked around nervously. "Don't tell them about what I'm about to do."

"Who? Stone and Atlas?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Why? What are you going to do?" Astro asked.

"Don't tell them, alright? I'll be right back," she said and left the room quickly.

"What in the world is she planning to do?" Astro said to himself and waited impatiently.

He heard a few noises and then Daisy came back with a sandwich. She sat down again, waving the sandwich under his nose and then in front of his face.

"I know you're hungry," she said. "I will give it to you if you don't tell them that I'm feeding you."

"Why can't they know?" he asked.

"They're trying to make you run out of energy," she explained. "Do you want it or not?"

Astro sighed. "Yeah, I'm hungry. But how am I supposed to eat without hands?"

Daisy held the sandwich in front of his mouth and blushed slightly. "I'm going to feed you."

Astro didn't say anything and took his first big bite from the sandwich. While chewing, he had a satisfied smile on his face.

"Did you make this?" he asked after he swallowed it.

"Uh, yeah," she said, her blush getting stronger.

"You could become a cook," Astro said and took another bite.

"Don't be silly, it's just because you're hungry," she said and looked away.

"Maybe," he muttered while eating.

"Daisy?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you helping Stone?"

She sighed. "I... can't tell you. Just finish eating!"

"Don't push me," Astro mumbled. "I like to enjoy my food."

She sighed and waited until he was done.

Astro yawned. "Why are you helping me, Daisy?"

Her eyes widened slightly and she looked away again. "That does not concern you."

"Why? It's uncommon that a villain helps his enemy," Astro explained.

"So, I'm a villain in your eyes," she said and looked up, sighing. "Technically, you're not wrong."

Daisy stood up and grabbed Astro's chair from behind.

"What are you doing?" Astro asked, confused.

She pushed the chair towards the wall and leaned it against it. "You should get some rest."

Astro looked at her and then at the ceiling before he closed his eyes. "Why are you so nice to me, Daisy?"

"That doesn't concern you," she said and turned the lights off.

She put her chair next to Astros' and sat down. She looked up, thinking.

"Daisy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

In the darkness, she was hiding her tomato-red face.

* * *

**Woooooooh ship! ****( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

**Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! :D**

**I don't want a lot for Christmas,**  
**there is just one thing I need.**  
**I don't care about the presents**  
**underneath the Christmas tree.**  
**I just want you for my own,**  
**more than you could ever know.**  
**Make my wish come true,  
****oh, ****all I want for Christmas is  
****youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! **

**Anyways, that's it with the eight chapter!**

**Here's my question:  
Who do you ship Astro with? (You can also choose someone from another movie or series)  
I ship AstroxNikki, but I'm planning on also making an AstroxCora fanfic, what do you think? :D**


	9. Come back

**CHAPTER 9**

**COME BACK...**

The next morning, Daisy grabbed Astro's chair and put it in the middle of the room again. After she sat down on her old place behind him, she hit his head with her hand slightly to wake him up. His eyes flickered up slowly, looking around in confusion.

He yawned. "Daisy?"

"Be quiet. They're awake," Daisy whispered. "Act as nothing happened."

Right after she finished her sentence, Atlas burst into the room with a smug on his face. "You ready?"

"Ready for what?" Astro asked, annoyed.

Atlas _cracked_ his knuckles and laughed. Stone came in and the first thing he did was grabbing Daisy's hair. He lifted her and glared at her.

"You didn't treat him or something, did ya?" he asked.

"N-no, why should I?" she asked, utterly disgusted by his halitosis.

"Maybe because... there's no bread left anymore?!" he yelled.

Daisy squinted her eyes. "I-I was hungry."

"Stop! You're hurting her!" Astro shouted.

"You better shut up!" Stone yelled and threw Daisy against the wall.

"Daisy!" Astro cried.

Daisy stood up slowly and looked down, nervous. Astro stared at her to see if she was hurt or bleeding somewhere.

"Go make us breakfast! I'm hungry!" Stone demanded.

"Yes, sir!" she said and left the room quickly.

Astro glared at Stone. "What's your goddamn problem, you psycho?!"

"Atlas, make him shut up!" Stone demanded.

Atlas laid his hand on Astro's eyes and pulled his head back.

"Hey! Get your hands off me!" Astro exclaimed.

Atlas then aimed the electric device at his neck and activated it.

The energy that flowed through Astro's body made him scream. For Astro, it felt like he was a human and someone was operating on him without giving him any anesthetics.

Roughly, ten seconds later, Atlas deactivated the device and snickered devilish.

Astro coughed while tears rolled down his cheeks. "What do you want from me..."

"What I want?! You're still wondering about what I want?!" Stone yelled. "REVENGE! And Metro City, of course."

Atlas let go of Astro so he could see Stone.

"It's torture time," he scoffed into Astro's face. Through his eyes, you could see his madness.

All Astro was able to do was glare at him.

* * *

"17 more hours!"

"16 more hours!"

* * *

Zoran woke up, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what happened the day before. Her eyes widened and she stood up, quickly. The noises she made, woke Tori up and he started chirping, confused. Zoran left her room and ran towards Astros'.  
After the door opened, she stood still and stared at the empty room.

On the shelves were comic books, video games, photos, action figures, and on one of them was an old radio. The walls were decorated with Ministry of Science, superhero, and game posters. His desk was a bit messy with USB-cards, pencils and a few movie DVDs. On the door of his closet hung a blue core poster and on his gray chair laid the red t-shirt a wore a few days ago.

"Astro hasn't returned yet..."

She left the room, disappointed and made her way to the living room. While walking down the stairs, she noticed Dr. Tenma, sitting on the couch while looking at old pictures.

"Daddy, you're back!" she exclaimed and ran over to him to hug him.

"Hey, princess," he said, sounding tired.

She let go of him and sat down, noticing his eye bags.

"Daddy, are you okay?" she asked.

Tenma sighed. "Not really, sweety. I'm exhausted."

"Then, why don't you go to sleep?" she asked, confused.

"It's not that easy, I have a lot of things to do today," the scientist said.

Zoran looked down and nodded. Then the photos on the coffee table caught her attention. A few photos of Astro with his friends or their dad and then on one of them stood a little boy. He smiled while holding up a trophy, he looked like he was 7 or 6.

"Is that Astro?" she asked and took a closer look at it. "Wait, no. Astro is a robot and has black hair."

"That's not Astro," the scientist said, shaking his head and getting teary-eyed. He buried his face into his hands. "It's one of the persons I couldn't protect."

He then lost it and burst into tears while slamming his fist several times against the coffee table. "Why?! Why?! Why?!"

Orrin rolled over to the couch and laid his hand down on Zoran's shoulder, the little girl robot stood up and looked up at Orrin and then back at her father. Orrin pushed her slightly, leading her towards the stairs. Zoran remained silence while walking towards her room.

Dr. Tenma had already stopped yelling and was just able to be heard, crying.

"Come back," he said. "Come back..."

Zoran still wasn't able to understand situations like these, she was confused. After she sat down on her bed, she looked over to Orrin who wanted to leave the room again.

"Orrin?" she asked and he turned around again. "What does daddy mean with what he just said?"

Orrin looked around nervously. "I can't tell you right now, but I'm pretty sure that Bill is soon going to tell you what he meant."

Zoran nodded and Orrin left the room.

Orrin knew a lot about the secrets Dr. Tenma was hiding from her and Astro, but he wasn't allowed to tell them anything about it unless it's Tenma who does it. He's surprised that the kids still haven't found out about them because those secrets are not small. They're huge secrets that could change the relationship between them.

Zoran huffed and laid down on her bed, listening to the sounds of the city through her open window. She wanted to be with her brother, she wanted to hug him, and tell him how much she loved him. The little girl robot hugged her teddy bear tightly and closed her eyes.

Tori then started chirping.

She opened her eyes again and stroke the bird's head with her finger. "You miss him too, huh?"

She looked at the sky through her window. "But what if big brother doesn't return...?"

Zoran closed her eyes. "Come back, brother. Come back..."

* * *

"15 more hours!"

"14 more hours!"

"13 more hours!"

* * *

Stone and Atlas laughed while watching Astro crying in pain. He was bound on an electric chair with the same wires as before what made it even worse. Daisy stood next to the door, wide-eyed and scared.  
Roughly, 5 minutes later, they deactivated the chair again. Astro panted while tears rolled down his cheeks.

"I guess it wasn't strong enough, huh?" Atlas asked with a smug and activated it again.

Astro started crying again and Stone turned to Daisy, he threw an empty beer bottle after her, but she luckily dodged and it hit the wall. The bottle plashed into a thousand tiny little pieces and landed on Daisy's clothes and the floor.

"Get me another one!" he exclaimed, sounding extremely drunk.

"Y-yes, sir!" Daisy said and left the room quickly.

While running through the living room, towards the beer bottles, the fuse box caught her attention. She stood still and looked around.

"I have to do something!" she said to herself and walked towards it.

She opened it and placed her finger on the main switch. She frowned at the thought that they were enjoying it, watching someone suffer. She looked around again to make sure that no one was watching her and quickly shut the electricity off.

Everything went dark and Astro's crying stopped. Daisy quickly closed it, trying to not make too much noise and walked towards the torture room in the darkness.

"HEY! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Stone exclaimed, furious. "WHO TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF?!"

Atlas activated his x-ray eyes and looked around. "I have no idea, sir."

"Well, then go check the goddamn fuse box!" Stone demanded with a drunk hiccup.

Daisy put the beer bottle on the floor and tried her best to not look suspicious, but Atlas grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the room.

"Hey! Let me go!" she demanded.

Atlas pressed her against the wall in the living room, with his face centimeters away from hers and his x-ray eyes still activated.

"I know it was you!" he hissed.

Daisy frowned and pushed him away. "So what?! What you're doing is wrong, Atlas!"

"Believe in whatever you want, but I am enjoying this!" he said walked towards the fuse box.

"Atlas!" Daisy exclaimed.

The orange robot turned the lights on again.

"ATLAS!"

He closed it.

"ATLAS!"

He rapidly turned around. "WHAT?!"

Tears were rolling down the cheeks of her angry face. "I'M DISAPPOINTED! JUST BECAUSE YOU AND ASTRO DON'T HAVE THE SAME OPINION, THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO HIM!"

"What are you talking about?! Humans should be controlled by robots! We're way much stronger than they are!" Atlas shouted.

The building started shaking, a train was passing by.

"Whaaaat's with aaalll the yeeelliiingg?" a drunk Stone asked and went into the living room, swinging from one leg to another.

"You shouldn't fight against weaker people! Humans created robots, Atlas! Of course, they shouldn't treat us like trash, but it's not okay to kill your creators!" Daisy exclaimed. "Even Astro says it! Robots and humans can be friends, Atl-"

"NO, THEY CAN'T!" Atlas cried out.

Then another train passed by and the building started shaking even more.

"YES, THEY CAN!" Daisy exclaimed while more tears rolled down her eyes. She wiped them away with the sleeve of her red dress. "You're just the one who can't see it! No wonder why everyone prefers Astro over you! You're selfish!"

She turned around, furiously and proceeded to leave the room.

The violent shaking that the trains caused, formed a crack on the ceiling. The crack got bigger and started forming a somewhat like circle. Atlas noticed it and through his calculations, it was going to fall and hit Daisy.

"DAISY!" he exclaimed.

She stood still and turned around, still furious.

"WATCH OUT!" he shouted and jumped, pushing her on the floor while the giant piece of the ceiling was falling. It landed on Atlas' back and split into giant pieces.

"Atlas!" Daisy exclaimed. "A-are you okay?!"

"Yeah," he huffed and stood up, offering her his help.

She looked away and stood up by herself.

Then Stone drunkenly collapsed on the floor, breaking the beer bottle he was holding in his hand.

Atlas sighed. "Go talk with your stupid horn friend. It might take a while until he wakes up."

Daisy worriedly turned to the torture room and ran inside without going any further into the conversation.

* * *

"12 more hours!"

"Come back, Astro..."

"11 more hours!"

"10 more hours!"

* * *

"ASTRO!" she exclaimed and ran towards him.

Astro's eyes flickered open while letting out a loud huff.

"Daisy?" he wheezed.

"I'm so sorry," she said and looked down. "I can't help you. I feel so useless..."

"But you _did _help me," he said with a weak smile. "You deactivated the electricity, right?"

"I know, but it's not the end," Daisy said. "Sorry..."

"I see," he said and looked down too. "I heard your and Atlas' conversation-"

She blushed in embarrassment.

"-uh, er... thank you."

They both became red like tomatoes.

"No problem," Daisy replied, rapidly.

* * *

"9 more hours!"

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes!"

"8 more hours!"

* * *

"Who are you missing?" Daisy asked.

"I... miss everyone," he said and looked away.

"Hm," she murmured. "I wish I had someone I was able to miss..."

"What do you mean?" Astro asked.

She sighed. "I never really had a family. A woman once raised me with love, but then, she started hating me and sent me to Stone. She said I wasn't like how she wanted me to be, that's why I was kept in chains. I was only allowed to leave the house for school. When you and I first met, I arrived too late at home and she... well..."

Atlas entered the room. "Quit chit-chatting, the torture is about to continue!"

Daisy stood up. "What?!"

"You heard me," he said and sat down on a chair.

Daisy balled her hands into fists, knowing that Atlas didn't listen to what she just said.

* * *

"7 more hours!"

"6 more hours!"

"Please come back, Astro..."

* * *

Stone returned with a smug and laughed.

Astro scowled at him while Daisy returned to her place next to the door.

Stone grinned while pulling the lever to activate the chair.

Astro's crying filled the room again while Stone and Atlas laughed devilish. Daisy looked away while tears rolled down her cheeks. The feeling of being useless overwhelmed her.

* * *

"5 more hours!"

* * *

They deactivated the machines again, but Astro was miraculously still conscious. That made Atlas growl and walked towards him while changing his arm into a cannon.

He aimed his arm cannon at him. "Let's try it with this!"

Astro weakly looked at the arm cannon and closed his eyes, waiting for it to come.

Atlas started laughing hysterically while the cannon loaded itself.

Stone watched excitedly as Atlas was about to shoot Astro and Daisy took a step forward. She knew that she was able to help him. She HAD to help him.

Her heart started pounding rapidly, she had to decide.

Lose a friend or die.  
Save a life or save hers.

* * *

**CLIFFHANGEEEEEEEEER, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
Ok, enough...**

**Sorry for taking a while to upload this. I was kind of busy lately and this chapter needed a few more updates before I could upload it.**

**By the way, today's the last day of the 2010s'.  
****In these 10 years, a lot happened and now we're opening another chapter in our life.  
Just a couple more hours for the second decade to begin.  
****Happy new year! ^-^**

**Anyways, that's it with the ninth chapter!**

**I hope you enjoyed it! :D**

**Here's my question:  
What's your favorite animal and how would you name it if it was your pet?  
Mines are cats, I would name it Astro like in the Astro Cat manga (1986)**


	10. Astro's return

**CHAPTER 10**

**ASTRO'S RETURN**

**A/N: ****Sorry that I didn't upload anything the past three weeks. I was VERY busy and also very tired lately, but now I'm full of energy again and ready to keep uploading chapters!**

**I had to rewrite this chapter several times because it was too boring or just not good enough because it was all about just one topic, but I tried my best. Hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

The cannon was fully loaded and ready to shoot.

Everything turned into slow motion, even though it happened in the split of a second.

Daisy's eyes started glowing in white as she raced towards them and a purple strong aura surrounded her.  
When she stood between the two robots, she threw her hands into the air and a white energy bubble suddenly appeared around her and Astro.

Atlas was too slow to realize what just happened and shot, but the shot didn't manage to go through the bubble and it flew back, hitting Atlas.  
He flew into the wall, which almost broke.

"What the hell?!" Atlas yelled and brushed the dust off his body.

"What in the world are you doing?!" Stone cried.

Daisy turned to Astro and took his chains off while Atlas tried to destroy the bubble, failing every time.

"What's happening? What are you doing?" Astro asked and stood up.

"That doesn't matter right now, but what _does_ matter is the fact that I _AM_ your friend," Daisy said with a smile that quickly turned into a serious facial expression. "You have enough energy to dig yourself through the ground and escape. Try your best to get as near as you can to a city so somebody can find you! Don't come back, it's for the best!"

She threw her hands into the air again to keep her balance.

"But what about you-"

Daisy frowned. "GO!"

Astro noticed that the bubble was getting smaller, she was slowly running out of energy.  
It was clear now, she was a robot just like him, which made him realize a few things, even though he still couldn't believe it.

"Where's the remote for her necklace?!" Stone yelled.

"Hurry up!" Nikki exclaimed and frowned, trying her best to keep the bubble from breaking.

Astro started to rapidly hit the ground, then digging himself through it. He activated his x-ray eyes and rockets so everything could go faster.

He felt guilty, leaving Daisy behind, who now had to deal with Stone and Atlas. But what wondered him the most was, where did Daisy actually come from?

He had to ignore those questions and concentrate because after a few minutes, he noticed that his energy was running low. He quickly dug himself out of the ground, still flying.

It felt refreshing to be finally able to breathe the fresh air again. He felt free, it was just like when he rocketed out of the ministry after Dr. Tenma had accepted him. Even though he wanted to enjoy this time, he knew he had to keep going.

It didn't last long for his rockets to finally fail, which made him fall face-first into the ground. He quickly looked around and noticed that there was no city nearby, just a cherry blossom tree. Astro sighed and laid down on his back, staring at the night sky.

* * *

[Zane:] 2 hours left!

[Kennedy:] 1 hour left!

[Kennedy:] Guys, if I get caught, I'm soooo doomed!

[Abercrombie:] You're not the only one!

[Alejo:] 30 minutes left! Pack your stuff!

[Zane:] I got us 4 flashlights, is that enough?

[Kennedy:] Should do.

[Abercrombie:] 15 minutes left!

[Cora:] 10 minutes left, just arrived at the park. Where are you?

[Alejo:] Just left, my parents go to sleep late.

[Zane:] Uhm, guys?

[Abercrombie:] ?

[Zane:] I accidentally woke Sludge and Widget up. Is it okay if they come with us? Hehe...

[Cora:] You what?!

[Zane:] Sorry?

[Kennedy:] As long as they don't tell an adult or we're screwed!

[Zane:] Don't you worry about that.

[Alejo:] Good.

[Cora:] Hurry up guys! 5 minutes left!

[Abercrombie:] Just met with Kennedy at the entrance, we're heading towards you!

[Cora:] Oh, I can already see you.

[Zane:] We also arrived.

[Alejo:] I'm almost there!

[Kennedy:] One more minute, Alejo!

[Alejo:] I'm there! I'm there!

[Abercrombie:] We can see you.

* * *

Astro admired one of a few daisy flowers, growing on the grass. The only thing he could think about was Daisy, what's going to happen to her? His anger rose as he remembered that he left her behind. He felt like he didn't deserve to be called a hero anymore because heroes don't leave the battlefield without everyone being saved. He had no choice, but he swore to himself that he would come back for her.

He put the flower on the ground and snorted in frustration. He needed energy, but he didn't have anything that could give it to him and his wires were burnt badly. If he would receive energy, it would just last for a short time.

He looked at the night sky, filled with stars. He wanted to feel free and relieved again, to be able to fly in the sky and admire Metro City from angles that other people aren't able to. The breeze that always flowed through his artificial skin and the happiness that felt like it was embracing him... but now, he all he could do was hope that someone would find him.

He closed his eyes and listened to the loud beeping and buzzing his wires were making.

* * *

The group of seven kids was already walking over the surface.

"This place looks more beautiful at night," Cora said.

"Now without the dead robots, I like it even more," Widget said and looked at the night sky.

"Concentrate, guys. We need to find Astro," Zane said.

"Right!" Sludge said and snapped out of his thoughts.

"But how is this robot dog gonna help us?" Abercrombie asked.

Trashcan barked at him, angrily.

"He can understand you," Cora told him.

"He can smell alive robots," Zane explained.

"But what if it's already too late and Astro is dead?" Alejo asked. "What are we gonna do then?"

"We shouldn't think about that!" Cora yelled.

"But it's important!" Kennedy admitted. "We should also face those sides!"

"No, it's not!" Sludge cried. "We should think positively!"

"It's important!" Abercrombie yelled.

"No!" Zane cried.

"Yes!" Alejo cried.

"No!" Widget cried.

"Yes!" Kennedy yelled.

While fighting, the kids couldn't hear Trashcan's barking. The robot dog started getting irritated and barked louder, but the kids kept yelling. He growled in frustration and bit Abercrombie's leg, but not too hard so it wouldn't hurt too bad.

"Ouch!" Abercrombie yelped and grabbed his leg. "Your dog just bit me!"

Trashcan started barking loudly again.

"I think he found something," Zane said and kneed down in front of Trashcan. "Hey boy, do you know where Astro is?"

Trashcan barked again.

A smile grew on Zane's face and he quickly turned to his friends. "Come on guys! Trashcan has found Astro!"

A wide smile also appeared on the kids' faces.  
Trashcan started running towards the direction where he smelt him and the kids followed him.

"Hey! Wait up!" Abercrombie yelled and ran after them.

But Trashcan ran way faster, so after a few minutes, they lost him. They stood still and hoped to be able to hear him, but nothing happened.

"Great! What now?!" Cora asked, irritated.

* * *

Astro sighed, thinking it was now over for him. His battery was lower than he had ever experienced it and he felt his body going numb with the pass of time. His skin turned pale and his honey-brown eyes turned black because his body tried its best to save energy.

But when he least expected it, he heard something and it felt like, hope and happiness hit his face at the same time.

_Bark!  
__Bark! Bark!_

It was trashcan! Astro smiled and tried to catch his attention, even though he was still too far away.

"Heeey...!" he wheezed. "Trashcaaan..."

He cleared his throat, trying to not sound like a dying old man.

"Trashcaaaaan...!" he wheezed, still sounding the same but louder.

Then silence.

"Heeeelp..." Astro wheezed, weakly. "Trashcan..."

The voice he heard coming out of him scared him. It sounded so... metallic like it was coming out of a cheap second-hand $0.10 toy speaker from the 80s'.

"Help..."

_Bark!  
__Bark! Bark!_

Astro smiled as he finally saw Trashcan, running over to him at full speed. The robot dog examined Astro a bit and then barked again.

"Hey...boy..." Astro wheezed.

His voice seemed to have scared Trashcan because he backed off and started barking loudly.  
It was shortly followed by a thousand steps that sounded like it came out of a crowd.

"Astro?" the voice of a little girl spoke.

He heard another step, coming closer.

"Wait!" a boy's voice hissed.

"Guys?" Astro wheezed.

"You're alive!" Kennedy cried happily and the kids ran over to him.

"Tell us! What happened?!" Alejo asked.

Astro gave them an exhausted look in response. He slowly pointed with his finger at himself.

"Energy," he said with the metallic voice. "Food..."

Abercrombie put his backpack on the floor and pulled out two sandwiches. They leaned Astro against the tree and gave him the food.

Astro sat there and ate silently.

"I'm going to call the ministry and inform them about you," Cora said and started typing the number on her smartphone.

After Astro finished his first sandwich (which wasn't as good as the ones Daisy made), he tried to speak again.

"Thanks," he said, sounding much more like him again.

"Can you tell us what happened? We, the police and your family were searching for you the whole time!" Zane said.

"No time," Astro whispered and proceeded to eat the second sandwich.

"What have they done to you...?" Kennedy asked.

"Torture..." he wheezed and shallowed the rest of the sandwich. "No time."

"Tortured?" Widget asked. "That's terrible!"

"B-but why though?" Kennedy asked.

"Dr. Elefun is informed about you. He said that we'll meet at the edge of the city, entrance three, with him and Dr. Tenma," Cora said.

They helped Astro up and started walking towards the city.

"Far?" Astro asked and huffed.

"Well, a bit," Alejo replied and scratched the back of his head, nervously.

* * *

Meanwhile with Daisy.

"What have you done?!" Stone cried and zapped Daisy through her necklace.

Daisy was laying on the floor, holding her neck and crying in pain. The necklace was normally used to dismantle robots brutally, but Stone used it to torture her because it was way stronger than any other electric device. The days where Daisy lived there, it became one of his favorite hobbies, watching her crying in pain.

Daisy wasn't screaming anymore, she was now clenching her teeth and hoping for the nightmare to take its end.

"I was so close! SO CLOSE!" Stone cried and kicked her. "I'm gonna take you apart with my own hands!"

"NO!" Atlas yelled.

Stone gave him a confused look.

"I mean... I have a better idea!" he said.

Stone deactivated the necklace. Daisy panted heavily and tried to stand up, but Stone put his foot on her to keep her down.

"Tell me," he said.

"W-what if we uh... sell her? That would at least give you money instead of just a few robot parts, right?" Atlas asked.

"S-sell?" she thought. Then she looked away, depressed. "It doesn't even matter anymore..."

Stone had a thoughtful face. "You're right," he said and took his foot off her.

The robot girl looked up at Stone, his eyes through which you could see his madness, were directed at her and a grin made a cold shiver walk down her spine.  
Without hesitating, he amplified the strength of the necklace through his remote and turned it on again.

The energy that flowed this time through her wires was so strong that she wasn't even able to scream. It was way worse than before and way worse than she ever imagined it could be. Numbers and colors started flickering in front of her eyes before everything turned black for her.

"You deactivated her, right?" Atlas asked, worriedly and stared at Daisy.

"Yeah," Stone said. "Go get one of the empty boxes and put her in it, I already know someone who would be interested. He's an old friend of mine."

* * *

The kids were already able to see the city from the distance, the lights and the skyscrapers. Metro City was getting bigger and bigger day by day. Right now on the left side of the city, they were building an amusement park. The city was surrounded by water and bridges because when the city landed on the surface, there was a huge hole. But that didn't matter because the city still looked pretty. Iron Town (the city with the arena in it) was soon also going to be a part of Metro City.

"Guys, do you like Metro City?" Zane asked.

"Actually yes, but back then I hated it," Cora said.

"Why?" Kennedy asked.

"They treated the surface like trash like it was their fault that they weren't able to experience the luxurious life of Metro City," she said. "But now... everything's different."

"Agreed," Abercrombie murmured.

Alejo sighed. "Yeah..."

Then Astro fell on his knees and huffed.

"ASTRO!" the kids yelled.

"I-I'm alright, just the lack of energy...," he explained and tried to stand up again.

"Damn it! Why didn't I bring enough food with me!" Abercrombie said.

The helped him up, but Astro's knees got weak again.

"Stay with us, buddy!" Zane said and helped him walk. "I can see the car already!"

"That must be them," Sludge said.

Then Astro fell down again.

"ASTRO!" they exclaimed again.

This time he wasn't able to stand up anymore.

"Crap!" Alejo said.

But then, they noticed someone running towards them, a little person.

"BIIIIIG BROOOOTHEEEEEER!"

That little person was Zoran. Astro smiled as she jumped up and hugged him, bursting into tears.

"I MISSED YOUUUU!"

Astro sighed and smiled warmly. "I missed you too..."

Zoran let him go slowly as Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun finally reached them.

"Thank god," Dr. Tenma said with tears in his eyes.

The kids helped Astro stand up on his weak legs. He smiled at his creator before he fell into his arms due to the lack of energy. The scientist hugged him and tried his best to not burst into tears.

"Don't worry, I will repair you and everything's gonna be alright."

It was very rare seeing Dr. Tenma showing so much emotion, he was always compared with an emotionless robot that sometimes smiled when he had to.

Then he looked up at Astro's friends. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

"Let's hurry up, his wires must be burnt badly," Dr. Elefun said.

Astro's eyes were flickering weakly until he gave it up and closed them.

"Let's go home," Dr. Tenma said and carried him up.

"Wait!" Cora exclaimed.

"When is Astro going to go back to school with us?" Kennedy asked.

Dr. Elefun smiled warmly as he recognized a few of them. "He should rest a few days so his wires can work normally again. Your friend is going to be back soon, don't worry."

The kids sighed in relief.

The old scientist turned to Tenma again "I'm going to the police station and tell them that we found him."

Then he turned to the group of friends again. "Do you kids need a lift home?"

"No thanks," they replied.

"Alright," he said walked over to his car again.

"Thank you a lot, again!" Dr. Tenma said and went into his limousine with Astro and Zoran.

After they left, they just stood there and sighed heavily.

"Let's lay down on the grass and be proud of ourselves," Cora said and let herself fall on the soft grass.

"Yeah," the other sighed and copied her.

"Astro is alright..." Widget murmured.

"But what if Atlas comes back again?" Alejo asked.

The vibe got tense again.

"I-I'm sure that with Zoran's help, he will be able to defeat him," Kennedy said.

"They are surely going to update him a little bit, am I right?" Abercrombie asked.

"You're right. After all, we should as first be proud of ourselves," Sludge said.

Trashcan barked, happily.

"But we should get going before our parents notice that we were gone," Alejo said and started to freak out, imagining his angry mother.

"Yeah," Kennedy agreed.

The stood up and stretched their muscles, tiredly.

"It was a nice night with you all," Widget said.

"Agreed," Sludge said and smiled tiredly.

Alejo yawned and everyone yawned after him, including Trashcan.

"Let's go before I fall asleep on my way home," Cora said, exhausted and stepped on her hoverboard.

"Let's go," Zane said and walked in the opposite direction with Sludge and Widget. "Good night!"

"Good night," the others said and stepped on their hoverboards, flying towards Metro City.

* * *

**That's it with the tenth chapter!**

**I really hope you enjoyed it!**

**Here's my question:  
Are you more a night or a day person? I like the day because there I can do parkour and stuff, but I love the night because of the city lights and the sky. **

**(I noticed a lot of grammatical errors in this chapter. Sorry!)**


	11. The day after

**CHAPTER 11**

**THE DAY AFTER**

Energy slowly started flowing through her wires what made her gain consciousness again. Without hesitating, she slowly opened her eyes and stared directly at the light over her as memories came back to her. She was lying on a table.

"She's awake!" she heard a girl's voice squeal.

"Really? Oh, she is!" a boy's voice said.

"Go tell your mom!" the girl said.

Daisy heard a few footsteps getting away from her and she turned to the direction she heard the girl's voice come from. Next to her sat a girl with red-brown hair and brown eyes who looked like she was 14 years old. She wore old and colorful clothes.

"Can you see me?" she asked.

Daisy sat up and nodded. She looked around and found herself in a small room with empty boxes and a few old mattresses.

"Can you talk?" she asked.

She nodded as a reply again.

_Bark! Bark! Bark!_

"She's awake! Look!"  
The boy stormed into the room again with a woman and a dog with light brown fur and a few darker spots, following them.

The boy was actually a robot boy with blue hair, dark-blue eyes and a white, red and blue outfit with a red cape. The woman had short brown hair and honey-brown eyes, she seemed like she was in her mid-30s'. The woman's face seemed pretty familiar to her, but she was sure that she had never seen her in her life.

But before she could actually react, the dog jumped on Daisy and pushed her back, making them both fall off the table.

"JUMP!" the others exclaimed while the dog started licking the robot girl's face.

"Jump?" she thought.

The blue-haired robot boy picked the dog up. "Jump, you could have hurt her!"

The dog kept quiet for a moment before he started licking his face, happily.

"I can't be mad at you, can I?" he asked and laughed under his breath.

"Are you okay?" the woman asked and helped Daisy stand up.

She nodded in reply.

"Can you talk?" the robot boy asked after he put Jump on the floor again.

"Yes," Daisy murmured and looked down.

"Do you have a name?" the girl asked.

"Yes... but no," she replied.

"I'm Reno!" the boy said and pointed at his chest.

"I'm Kathy," the girl said.

"I'm Hoshi," the young woman said with a warm smile.

"And this is Jump," Reno said and pointed at the dog, wagging his tail.

"Should we inform the boss about her?" Kathy asked.

Hoshi shook her head. "Not yet."

"Let's give you a name!" Reno said, happily.

"Yeah," Kathy agreed.

"What about Lily?" Hoshi suggested.

The robot girl shook her head.

"Ally?" Kathy suggested.

She shook her head again

"Clara?" Reno suggested.

She shook her head again. For a few moments, they sat there and stared into space, thinking about a good name for her. Suddenly Reno's head flew up, through the look on his face you could see that he had an idea.

"What about...no, no, no..." he said and kept thinking.

"What?" Kathy asked.

"No, I don't think she'll like it," he said.

"We'll find out if you say it," Hoshi said.

"Alright," he said and sighed. "What about Nikki?"

The robot girl's eyes widened slightly.

"See? I knew she wouldn't like it," Reno said.

"No," she said with a slight smile. "I like it... Nikki..."

"Then Nikki it is," Kathy said, happily.

She nodded happily.

"Okay, at least we can remove this off our list," Reno said.

"Let's show you around," Hoshi said, kindly.

They stood up and walked towards the door.

While walking through a long hallway, Jump was excitedly running around Nikki, almost making her trip.

"We're on the surface, in an arena which once belonged to a guy named Hamegg," Kathy explained.

"Robin, our boss bought it and this Saturday it's showtime for the robot circus!" Reno said.

"Our robots are in this room," Hoshi said and pointed at a room with a glass door.

"The room where you woke up, is the room where we all sleep and eat together," Kathy said. "Our boss is a jerk, that's why."

"Hush!" Hoshi hissed. "Be careful, he could have heard you."

They left the hallway and walked through a bigger and shorter one. After they reached the end, they were in the middle of the arena.

"Whoa," Nikki gasped and looked around. "Huge!"

Jump barked a few times and it echoed through the arena for a short time.

"I know," Reno said and pointed at the empty seats. "This is where the people from all around the surface will be and here is where we will show them our talent."

"By the way, do you have any powers?" Kathy asked.

"Uhm..." Nikki looked down, nervously. "I have a few, but I still can't really handle them."

"That's okay, we can train you," Hoshi said.

"Okay um... do you have something heavy for me?" she asked.

"Outside, there's a huge rock," Reno said and pointed at the exit.

"Reno, that rock is way too heavy," Hoshi said.

"Let me see it," Nikki said.

They ran towards the exit and left the arena, not far away there was a massive rock, resting on the surface.

"Yeah, something like that," she said and ran towards it.

"Wait! What are you gonna do?" Kathy yelled after her.

"You'll see!" she replied and disappeared behind the rock.

2 seconds later, the rock started shaking and then moving up.

"What is she doing?" Hoshi asked.

Jump started barking towards it.

They took a few steps back and watched as the rock went up. After it was completely up, they could see Nikki holding it up and floating in the air thanks to her rocket boots.

"Whoa!" Reno gasped.

"This is amazing!" Kathy shouted.

"Incredible," Hoshi whispered.

Nikki smiled and laid the rock on the floor again. She then flew towards the arena and landed in front of them.

"You can fly and carry heavy things at the same time?! Fantastic!" Reno said.

"He's right! I never saw something like you ever in my entire life!" Kathy said.

Nikki blushed in embarrassment. "Thank you."

"Do you any more powers?" Hoshi asked.

"I guess, but I still haven't discovered them yet," Nikki said, she purposely avoided her power of making these powerful bubbles.

"Are you a fighting robot?" Kathy asked.

"Well... I was built for different reasons," she explained.

"Which ones?" Reno asked.

"Um..."

"What's all that noise?!" they heard a deep voice yell.

They all turned to the arena and saw a man with a dirty suit, an old hat and smoking a cigarette, walking towards them.

"Ah, I see. The new robot has awakened," he said and stared at Nikki.

Nikki had a bad feeling about him but still tried to be nice. "Hello, I'm-"

"Shut up!" he yelled and then turned to the others.

Nikki stood there frozen and shooked by the man's reaction. Jump growled at him angrily.

"I want you all to train the newby and the other machines till this Saturday, understood?!" he yelled.

"Yes!" Reno replied.

The man glared at him, grabbed his arms pushed him on the floor. "Shut up, machine! I wasn't talking to you!"

He turned one last time to Hoshi and Kathy and then went back in.

Nikki ran towards Reno and gave him her hand to help him up.

"Thanks," Reno murmured and accepted her help.

Nikki's eyes widened as he took her hand. Reno stood up, rubbing his arm and Hoshi kneed down, asking him if he was okay while Nikki stared at her hand.

"Human," she said to herself and then turned to Reno again.

"Robin is such a jerk!" Kathy said, angrily.

"You're a human," Nikki said.

"Huh?" they all turned to Nikki.

Hoshi sighed. "It seems like you found out..."

"Why are you disguising yourself as a robot?" Nikki asked.

Hoshi sighed. "The robots of this circus found him on the surface when he was just a few months old. They trusted me with their secret and since then on, I've been raising him like my own son."

"Robin doesn't know anything about this, please don't tell him," Reno begged.

"Don't worry, I won't," Nikki said with a warm smile.

"Good because that psycho is nuts!" Kathy said, still angry. "But we should head inside, it's getting dark."

* * *

Astro's eyes flickered open as his pain risen unexpectedly. He sat up and grabbed his chest while breathing heavily and trying to calm down again.  
He let himself fall into his pillow again after it sunk and looked around. He found himself in his room with the lights off. Through the window he watched the sunset for a few seconds, trying to remember what had happened. Suddenly the door opened and Zoran stepped inside, the lights went on and Astro smiled at his little sister.

"Astro!," she said, happily and walked towards him with a bowl of soup. "You're awake! Stay in bed, daddy said you need to rest for a few days."

Astro sighed. "Where is dad right now?"

"He's downstairs and talking to some people called the police," she explained. "Orrin made soup for you, do you need help eating it?"

"No, no," Astro said and tried to sit up, but failed.

Zoran then placed her hand on his back and helped him sit up. Astro leaned against the wall and huffed.

"Are you sure that you don't need any help?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied and reached out for the bowl.

But before he got to reach it, the police burst into his room. Orrin was chasing after them, telling them that they couldn't enter and Dr. Tenma followed them, panic-stricken.

"Astro!" a man with a brown mustache and typical detective clothing said.

"Wait, he needs to rest!" Dr. Tenma said.

"This is way too important and he seems completely awake to me, doctor!" he said and walked towards Astro. "Hello kiddo, I'm detective Tawashi and you might already imagine why I'm here."

Astro looked over to his father and then back at the inspector. "I guess?"

The detective grabbed his notebook. "Good, do you remember what happened?"

"Uhm..." Astro thought for a moment. "Yes?"

"Good," he said and started to take notes. "HOW did they kidnap you?"

"That was quick," Astro thought.

"Well..." he said and looked down, thinking about it. He couldn't tell them that Daisy was also involved in this. "Uh... I and Atlas were fighting. But then... he pointed something at me and then everything went black."

Zoran, who saw everything that day, gave him a confused look.

The inspector took more notes and turned the page. "Do you know where you have been?"

"Um..." Astro murmured and thought about it. "No, not at all."

The inspector sighed irritated and continued taking notes. "Did you hear any sounds from outside?"

Astro took a few seconds to think about it and then his face brightened, he did hear something. "Um, I think I heard trains passing by. It seemed like they were pretty close."

"Good, good," he said. "What exactly did they do to you?"

"They..." Astro thought about a good version where he didn't have to mention Daisy. "They tied me up to a chair with electric wires that would zap me if I tried to destroy them. In the end, they tortured me with a somewhat like electric chair."

The inspector turned the side of his notebook and took more notes. "How did you escape?"

"I... uh...-" Astro muttered.

He thought about what happened, did he really want to betray the one who helped him escape? Dr. Tenma and Orrin came a bit nearer because all they knew was where he was found by his friends.

"-The chains broke... and I... hit the ground and dug myself out of there with my powers."

"Is there something you could add?"

Astro thought about it again. "Not really. The walls and the roof were old and weak. There were only Stone and Atlas... and that's everything."

The inspector luckily seemed to believe it and took notes again.

"Thank you," he said and turned to Dr. Tenma. "Goodbye, Doctor."

He then walked towards the door with the other policemen. Orrin rolled after them.

Tenma then sat down on the edge of Astro's bed and sighed, heavily.

"I'm sorry," Astro said and looked away.

Dr. Tenma stared at him with a smile and teary-eyes. Astro knew what was about to happen and he was right. He hugged him tightly while Astro kept quiet the whole time and wondered what he must have gone through the last days.

The scientist sighed while Astro felt his warm tears, landing on his metallic hair. Zoran also decided to join the hug. The hug lasted a few moments until Astro decided to break the silence.

"Dad?" he asked and the released the hug. "Are we... moving?"

Tenma laughed under his breath. "No, son. Of course not," He wiped his tears away with his hand. "Just... be more careful."

"We should celebrate it!" Zoran suggested.

They snickered silently and Dr. Tenma cleared his throat. "Well, I thought about something similar. You know, there's that robot circus in Iron Town. I thought that maybe... you two would want to go?"

"What is a circus?" Zoran asked.

"That's a place where you go and there are people, this time robots, making tricks or doing funny things for entertainment," the scientist explained.

"Sounds like fun," Astro said and smiled. "I never actually went to one."

"Good," Dr. Tenma said, smiled and stood up again. "I'm going to go into my room, you know, paper stuff."

"Alright!" Zoran said and the scientist left the room.

"Is there something you want to do?" Astro asked.

"I don't know," Zoran said. "Daddy said that on Monday it's my first day as a student at a school."

"Oh, that's great! By the way, what's today's day?" he asked.

"Sunday."

Astro looked over to the clock. 8.40 pm. "Shouldn't you go to sleep soon?"

"Why?"

"Because when you have school, you have to wake up early."

"Oh," she said. "Well, good night!

She then proceeded to leave the room, but then she turned around again.

"Astro?"

"Hm?" he asked and smiled.

"Why did you lie?" she asked.

That question hit Astro like a baseball bat. "L-lie?"

"I was there that day and saw everything," she explained. "It wasn't Atlas who pointed that thing at you. It was another person."

Astro stared at her and felt his heart pounding faster. He had to think about something, quick.

"W-well... you know. That thing knocked me off and it might be possible that it did something to my memory," he said.

"Oh," she said with a thoughtful face. "Sorry for assuming you were lying."

"It's... alright," Astro said and smiled.

"Goodnight!" she said.

"Night," he said.

After Zoran left his room, he sighed in relief and began eating his soup, thinking about what happened, what's happening, and what was about to happen.

One problem after another...

* * *

**That's it with the eleventh chapter!**

**I hope you enjoyed it! :D**

**Sorry that it took so long to upload again, but there were some important tests, projects, and presentations...**

**I'm also working on other Astro Boy fanfictions, fanarts, and an animation I'm planning on doing.**

**Here's my question:**  
**What are your favorite subjects? Mines are PE, Maths, Art, and English! ^-^**


	12. The Astro Boy Fanclub

**CHAPTER 12**

**THE ASTRO BOY FANCLUB**

At the robot circus, Nikki had a great time, even though she often wondered how Astro was doing.  
She and the others practiced and brought new ideas up for Saturday. It wasn't much what they had but they were still grateful for at least having something.  
But happiness never lasts for long...

It was the Thursday in the afternoon and Nikki was flying while carrying the huge rock from last Sunday while a robot elephant was dancing on it and holding Reno in the air with his trunk. On that day, the boss decided to check on how they were doing and entered the arena. At first, he didn't notice Nikki but then, he did. He stared at her with his jaw dropped and watched as she landed and laid the rock down.

"That was great!" Hoshi said and clapped, cheerfully.

Nikki scratched the back of her head. "Oh, that was nothing, really."

Robin pushed Hoshi aside and stared at Nikki. The robot girl nervously looked over to Hoshi and then back at Robin.

"D-did I do something wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said and walked off as if nothing happened, but before he disappeared in the darkness again, he yelled. "Keep training her! Saturday's the big day and I don't want you to embarrass me!"

"As if he was the one who has to do several somersaults," Reno commented, annoyed. "While we do the whole job, he just wipes his butt with the money bills-"

"Language!" Hoshi hissed and laid her hand down on Nikki's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Um, I guess?" she said. "Does he do that often?"

"No, but maybe he was impressed by your talent," Kathy said. "He never admits something like that because he loves himself more than anything else."

"Suits him," Nikki said under her breath and sighed. "Shall we continue?"

"Heck to the yeah! I still have a lot of energy to lose on this!" Reno said and laughed.

* * *

In the meantime, Astro was able to go back to school. And again he was in the center of attention, but he was already used to it.

"Hey dude, how are you?" Zane asked as he entered the classroom.

"I'm fine, is there something new?" Astro asked.

"No, not at all," Cora said.

"How do you feel, was Dr. Tenma able to repair you?" Alejo asked.

"Yes, but I had to learn how to walk again, it reminded me of the day I was first activated," Astro said and snickered.

Kennedy sighed. "Mr. Mustachio told me to do this, soooo, do you guys have interests in any clubs?"

"Clubs?" Abercrombie asked.

"Yeah," Kennedy said and pulled out a list of his pocket. "There's the Cheerleading Club, the Rocket Ball Team, the Cooking Club, a Fashion Club, a Music Club, a Chess Club, a Nursery Club, and..." he squinted his eyes "I can't read what it sais... Astro... Astronomy Club I guess."

"Hey Cora, the Fashion Club may help you a little bit," Zane said, playfully.

Cora shoved her fist into his arm. "Careful, don't make get the Nursery Club for you."

They laughed for 10 seconds straight until they managed to settle down again.

Astro sighed with a warm smile. "I think I'll join the Rocket Ball Team. I did some research and it sounds like fun."

"That's great! I'm gonna inform the leader right away!" Kennedy said and made his way out of the classroom.

"By the way, did we have any History homework?" Astro asked.

"Nope," Abercrombie replied.

Astro leaned against the wall and looked over to the door as it opened again, expecting Kennedy. But it wasn't Kennedy.

"What the-" Astro thought and stared at Atlas.

The redhead looked over to Astro and gave him a devilish grin before he sat down at his place next to Astro again.

"Nobody knows about him?" Astro thought.

"Astro?!" Alejo called.

"Uh, huh?" Astro snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his friends again.

"We were telling you what we did last time at History," he said.

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking," Astro said and scratched the back of his head.

Kennedy sprinted into the classroom again. "Hey, Astro! He said that you're welcome at their team!"

The robot boy smiled. "Great!"

Shortly after, Ms. Miyoki entered the classroom. "Take your seats please!"

Astro sat down next to Daichi, glaring at him while listening to the teacher. The redhead you smirked and acted like everything was completely fine.

Time passed by quickly and it was finally lunchtime, but before Astro arrived at the cafeteria, something unexpected happened.

"There he is!" Astro heard a high pitched voice squeal.

He turned to the direction to see a crowd full of girls wearing t-shirts with his name or face on it. They started squealing and running towards him. Astro stood there, confused, shocked and embarrassed. He quickly started running at full speed away from them but a few other of them captured him and dragged him together with the others into a classroom. They sat him down on a chair and smiled uncontrollably.

"What just happened?" Astro asked and raised an eyebrow.

The girls squealed. "He said something!"

"Welcome to the Astro Boy Fanclub!" a girl finally said.

She had green eyes and short curly hair, the upper half was light orange and the lower half blonde.

"We're huge fans of you and we would like to interview you," she said and smiled uncontrollably. "You signed my photo of you! Do you remember? My mom saw you and asked you to. My name is Sara by the way!"

"That's very interesting and yes I remember," he said, awkwardly after he noticed that there were just girls in that fandom. "But my friends are waiting for me I-"

"No," she said and pushed him down in the chair again as he tried to stand up.

"This feels like a girly version of the RRF," Astro thought and listened to the girl's questions.

"Can I touch your hair?" a girl asked.

"Um, go ahead."

"Where do you buy your clothes from?"

"Metro Boys Shop... why?"

"Will you go out for prom with me?"

"I'm not going..."

"Can I kiss you?"

"Please, don't."

"Will you go on a date with me?"

"Can I please leave?"

"Can I touch your chest?"

"No?"

"Can I make a dress for you?"

"Go ahead, but I'm not gonna wear it."

"Can you take me for a ride through the sky?"

"It would be unfair for the others."

"What's your favorite subject?"

"Music."

"Do you love me?"

"I don't know you."

"Can I touch your cheek?"

"Why?"

"What's your favorite food?"

"Pizza."  
Astro looked up a bit annoyed and noticed that Sara was taking notes.

"Are you writing everything down?" Astro asked, surprised.

"Of course," she said. "We have to know you better than anyone else on this planet!"

Astro sighed.

"Oh, I made a t-shirt for you!" a girl said and gave him a folded white t-shirt.

He unfolded it and read what was on it. There was a big pink heart and in front of it stood 'Astro Boy Fanclub'.

Astro smiled nervously at the overjoyed girl. "Uh, thanks? But I think it suits better on you."

"OMG! He gave me fashion advice!" she squealed and ripped the t-shirt off his hands, she then proceeded to put it on over her clothes. "It smells like the touch of Astro!"

"Jesus Christ..." Astro thought to himself.

He sighed and stood up. "I... want to leave."

"Why? We need to ask you more questions!" Sara said.

"My friends... they are probably searching for me already," Astro said, nervously and looked around.

An open window caught his eye, that was the solution!

"No need to worry, you'll see them when you return to class anyways," she said.

"I'm gonna get some fresh air," Astro said and leaned against the open window with the girls staring at him.

In his mind, he counted up to three and then made a quick move and jumped out of the window. They were on the first floor.

"Hey! Come back!" the girls shouted.

Astro ran till to the corner of the building and looked back quickly. The girls were jumping out of the window and running towards him at full speed.

"Crap!" he cursed in his mind and continued running, but the girls wouldn't stop following him. He then decided to enter the school building and try to confuse them with running into different halls.

He kept running until he ended up at a dead-end, the girl's voices were able to be heard coming nearer and nearer. Astro looked around quickly and the only thing he found was a trashcan, big enough for him to hide in it.

"Come on! We almost got him!" Sara yelled and they turned to the dead-end. "W-what?! I swear I saw him turning this way!"

"Let's go the other direction!" one of the girls suggested and they ran back into the other hall.

Then the lid of the trashcan flew up and Astro fell out of it, panting and with a banana shell, chilling on his head.

"This was the worst decision ever!" Astro wheezed and picked himself up, brushing off the dust from his pants. He then looked around and ran towards the exit. Paranoic, he looked around again and found his friends, chilling at the picknick table they always sit at, he sighed relieved and walked over to them.

"Hey, Astro! What took you so long?" Alejo asked.

"Have you already eaten up your food?" Cora asked.

"Why's a banana shell chilling on your head?" Abercrombie asked.

Astro picked up the banana shell and threw it into a trashcan with a face of disgust.

"Sorry guys, something happened," Astro said and sat down next to them. "I can't go into the cafeteria, they will surely spot me."

"Who?" Zane asked.

"Is it that crazy group of girls, wearing t-shirts with your name on it?" Kennedy asked and took a bite of his slice of pizza.

Astro blushed in embarrassment and whispered. "Yeah."

"There's an Astro Boy Fanclub?" Zane asked and chuckled.

"Yeah, it all started with that green-eyed girl. She created that club and the next day, the room was full," Alejo said and laughed.

Kennedy then pulled out the list of his pocket again. "Oh, it sais Astro Boy, not Astronomy..."

"I hope the principal does something against this," Astro said. "It's embarrassing. I had to hide in a trashcan to escape from them."

The kids burst into laughter.

"A trashcan?" Cora wheezed.

"That explains your new banana friend," Abercrombie said.

Astro couldn't help but laugh with them. It truly was hilarious.

* * *

**So, that's it with the 12th chapter!**

**I really hope you enjoyed it!**

**Here's my question:  
What languages do you speak? I speak German, English, Spanish, and French(not fluent) :D**


	13. Red aura

**CHAPTER 13**

**RED AURA**

"Sooo, tell us about you," Reno said and took a bite off his pizza.

They were having lunch at a small table in front of the arena.

"About me?" Nikki asked.

"Right... you never told us from where you are from," Hoshi said.

"Well, what do you want to know?" she asked.

"Um... did you have a life before this?" Reno asked.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Tell us about it!" Kathy said.

"I would really like to hear yours first," Nikki said. "If you want to..."

"Oh, mine..." she said.

"You don't have to," Nikki said.

"It's alright. Well... I used to live with my younger sister and my mom in an old house down here on the surface, but once she died, our aunt took care of us. She was abusive, especially towards me because I was the oldest. After a few months, she kicked me out. I then found out about the job here for the robot circus because all I needed at the time was a place to stay, food, and some money," she said and bit lips. "I hope my sister is doing well..."

They sat there in silence for a long time.

Jump looked up at Kathy and let out crying noises while rubbing his head against her leg in a consoling way.

Nikki inhaled. "I'm... sorry for you, that's-"

Kathy looked up and smiled. "Don't be, after all, it belongs to the past now... I guess..."

"It's alright, dear," Hoshi said and laid her hand on Kathy's shoulder. She sighed. "I guess it's my turn now."

Nikki looked up as Hoshi started talking.

"I used to live in Metro City, I grew up there," she said. "In high school, I met this guy. He was funny, nerdy, dorky, but not very talkative, I liked it. Turns out, he and I had the same goal to become successful scientists. With time, we fell in love and that was also when we became official scientists. After years of being in a relationship and working together, we married and had our first child. Everything was like in a dream, it was perfect, but there was this accident...-"

Nikki leaned in closer.

"-...he was at home, taking care of our child and I was returning home. It was raining heavily and I lost control over the car, right at the edge of the city. Afterward, I fell off the city but landed on a huge mountain of old pillows and mattresses," she sighed. "I was lost but I knew that I had to do something, so I found out about this job and knew that this was my only option. Afterward, I found out about Reno..."

There was silence, again, but this time even longer.

"Sorry," Kathy said.

Hoshi smiled, sadly. "Don't be sorry, I'm sure my family is doing well up there in Metro City."

Nikki looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean with _up there_?"

"Metro City is floating, right?" Reno asked.

"You guys, don't know?" she asked.

"Know what?" Kathy asked.

"Hey, you!" someone yelled from behind them.

They turned to the direction and noticed Robin walking towards them.

"Oh no, what now?" Reno asked.

Jump started growling at him.

Robin looked at Nikki. "You! I need to talk to you, right now."

"...me?" she asked, nervously and pointed at herself.

"No, the table," he said, annoyed and grabbed her wrist. She let go of her slice of pizza and he then proceeded to drag her with him into the arena.

Jump barked a few times, furiously.

"What is he doing?!" Hoshi asked and stood up.

"Let's check it out!" Reno said, picking up Jump and following them with Kathy and Hoshi behind him.

"Slow down or he'll hear us!" Kathy hissed.

They arrived at the entrance and ducked while peeking inside, carefully.

"You what?!" Nikki asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I want you to fight against killing-machines!" Robin said and chuckled in an evil way. "You know until there's no one left but one."

"But," she said. "I don't want to fight... it's wrong!"

"Shut up and do as you're told!" he said.

"I thought this was a robot circus, not some kind of robot box club!" Nikki yelled.

He rolled his eyes. "You're a machine! Face the truth!"

She looked down. "But that doesn't mean that it's still the right thing to do."

Robin growled. "You're going to fight and this is the end of this conversation!" he then turned away.

Nikki took a step forward. "What conversation are you talking about?! You can't call this an actual conversation! We're not done!"

He turned around angrily. "Shut up before I dismantle you once and for all!"

Jump started growling at Robin, but Reno grabbed him and shut him down.

"Do whatever you want, but I'm not going to fight!" she said, angrily.

"Oh really?" he asked, smirking and pulled out an electric device, aiming with it at Nikki. "You will fight!"

Nikki's eyes widened and she stepped back.  
Flashbacks from the times she was tortured with an electric device ran across her eyes.

_"Scream!"_

She frowned, balling her hands into fists and looking down.

_"Heh... weak..."_

"Are you going to fight?" he asked and stepped closer with it. "ANSWER ME!"

_"Come on! Why aren't you fighting back?!"_

Nikki didn't flinch and kept staring at the floor.

_"Gonna cry?"_

Reno, Kathy, and Hoshi took a closer look and almost gasped when they noticed a strand of her dark blonde hair turning black.

Robin stared at it. "What the-"

She looked up, glaring at him.

He frowned.

"I'm not going to fight," she said while two other strains of her hair turned black. "I'm not gonna use my power for you. It's mine!"

Robin growled, but then he noticed that her eyes were no longer honey-brown, they were glowing in red and glowed stronger with every second. Her once dark blonde hair was now completely black, but those red burning eyes were scaring him more than any other thing.

He eventually pulled himself together and activated the device.

Reno, Kathy, and Hoshi who were watching the whole scenario gasped, but Nikki wasn't hit by the electricity.  
She dodged, jumped on the wall, and then on Robin. She ripped the remote off his hands and pointed with it at him, with a red aura surrounding her body.

Robin held his hand towards her in defense, scared that she was going to kill him.  
Whoever that was, it wasn't Nikki anymore.

"The rules of robotic! You can't harm a human in any kind!" he cried out.

Robin may be a total jerk, but the three knew that they had to do something. Reno was the first one who reacted, he jumped up and caught Nikki's attention.

"Nikki!" Reno shouted.

Nikki glared at Robin for a few seconds and then fixed a glance at Reno. He flinched slightly.

Kathy was the next who stood up. "This is wrong, Nikki!"

Hoshi also stood up. "This is not you, Nikki! You wouldn't harm anybody, right?!"

While staring at them, she amplified the electric device's strength.

"You are not Nikki," Reno said, silently. He gasped for air. "But I know that she can hear us!"

Her hand started shaking and the red aura started glitching. The three noticed it.

"Stop it, Nikki! Listen to us! We're your friends!" Kathy yelled.

"Nikki! Come to your senses again!" Hoshi yelled.

Nikki's eyes started flickering between red, blue, and their original color. She dropped the remote and grabbed her head, kneeling down.

"No!" she cried. "I told you to stop!"

Their eyes widened and they were hit by confusion.

"Take it out!" she cried and grabbed her chest.

Red and blue zaps surrounded her body. Reno took a step forward, risking getting hit by the electricity.

"What are you talking about?!" he asked, panicking.

"The-"  
But before she could answer properly, Robin quickly grabbed the electric device and zapped her with it. She cried out and the red and blue electricity surrounding her body fought against the electricity zapping her, but Robin amplified the strength to its maximum.

"Stop!" Reno yelled and ran towards him.

Robin kicked him in the stomach and he flew back.  
Slowly, the aura and electricity zaps around her stopped and she fell down while her screams died down.  
He grinned and deactivated the remote.

Hoshi ran over to Reno while Robin started laughing hysterically.

"HA! That's what you get, you fool!" Robin yelled and stared at Nikki's body, laying on the floor. "You're just a machine, see?"

She flinched a few times before she completely stopped moving. It was a horrifying scenario.

"What have you done?!" Kathy cried out.

"Are you stupid?! She was going to kill us all!" Robin said with an insane look on his face.

"She was trying to tell us something!" Hoshi said. "She even dropped the remote!"

"I don't care!" he shouted. "She will fight this Saturday if she wants or not!"

He then grabbed one of her legs and dragged her all the way through the hallway. Reno, Kathy, and Hoshi stood still.

"That bastard!" Reno cried out, stood up, and ran out of the arena.

"Reno, wait!" Kathy said and sprinted after him.

Hoshi stood in the hallway and thought about what just happened.

* * *

"I hate him! I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!" Reno yelled and buried his face into his knees.

Kathy sighed and sat down next to him, rubbing his back. "Come on, don't cry. You're washing your make-up away."

"I don't care!" Reno murmured.

She sighed. "I know that he's a jerk, a craphead-"

"-a bastard! A goddamn bastard!" Reno yelled.

"-But we have to think positive, today's Thursday and this Saturday is our big day! We should concentrate on that!" Kathy said. "Maybe a miracle will happen, who knows?"

"Don't tell me you actually believe in miracles," he said and looked up.

She smiled and shrugged. "Who knows?"

Reno sighed. "Kathy, I've been living in this circus with that jerk since I wasn't even able to walk or talk! All my life I had to disguise myself as a robot, just so I won't get thrown out like a piece of junk! I can't watch anymore how he destroys and abuses robots or the way he's towards you and my mom..."

"Reno," Kathy said. "You've been living here your whole life, you should be able to survive some more time. I'm not forcing you into it, it's your decision, but I'm just telling you. Do it at least for Hoshi, the woman who raised and loved you... and still does."

He sighed. "I guess you're right..." he said and looked up. "But what are we going to do now, without Nikki?"

Kathy's eyes widened. "Oh no! Have we been practicing this whole time for nothing?!"

"I gotta tell mom!" Reno said and proceeded to stand up, but Cassy held him down.

"No, I will tell her and then I'm going to get you your make-up because if Robin sees you, you're dead meat," she said and stood up. "Wait for me."

She then winked and walked towards the arena. Reno blushed and looked away.

* * *

"Man, what a day," Astro murmured while landing on the balcony of his penthouse.

He went inside and noticed Dr. Tenma sitting on the couch and staring at the bookshelf.

"Dad?" he asked.

The scientist didn't react.

"Dad?" he asked again and took a step forward.

And again, no reaction.

"Dad!" he yelled.

He looked up and turned around. "Oh, Astro! You're home already?"

Astro raised an eyebrow. "I'm always home at this time... Are you... okay?"

"Uh, yeah, why shouldn't I?" he asked.

"Well, you ignored me when I entered," he explained.

"I did?" Dr. Tenma asked.

"Yeah...?" he answered, confused.

"Oh, I'm just a bit tired, no need to worry," he said and smiled.

"Well, then...," he said and went up the stairs. He quickly gazed down at him and saw him sitting the exact same way as when he entered with the same serious expression.

"Weird...?" he murmured and went into his room.

* * *

_Tap! Tap!  
_Someone was at the door.

"Hm..."

_Bark! Bark! Bark!_

"Jump...?"

_Bark! Bark! Bark!_

"Don't... worry..."

_Bark! Bark! Bark!_

"...I'll be fine..."

_Bark! Bark! Bark!_

"...you know... that you won't be able... to help me..."

Steps were able to be heard, coming nearer.  
"Hey, boy! Why are you barking?" another voice from behind the door added.

"...Reno...?"

_Bark! Bark! Bark!_

The doorknock moved and the door shacked a little bit.  
"Hm, seems like it's locked. Are you looking for your ball?"

_Bark! Bark! Bark!_

"Yes? Well, it's in the other room."

"... Reno... I'm here..."

_Tap! Tap!_

"Come on, leave that door alone, there's no one in there."

"...Reno...!"

"Come on, let's go, boy!"

_Bark! Bark! Bark!_

"Stopp being so loud, you'll wake the others up!"

_Bark! Bark! Bark!_

Jump was picked up.

"...wait...! I'm here...!"

_Bark Bark Bark_

"...right here..."

_Bark... Bark..._

"... in the darkness..."

...

"... again..."

...

* * *

**Well, that's it with the 13th chapter!  
****"It ain't much, but it's honest work." -Random Internet Meme I found last decade**

**Here's my question:  
What are your favorite Bands or Musical Artists?  
Mine's are Linkin Park, BTS, Skillet, Evanescence, TheFatRat, Alan Walker, and Avicii! :D**


	14. Innocent

**CHAPTER 14**

**INNOCENT**

Zoran was walking through the school ground, it was Friday and her first day at school. The other kids were staring at her, they knew that she was Astro's sister.

Zoran didn't really mind the attention, she was proud of her brother and too busy being happy about being able to go to school.

But then two pretty similar looking kids approached her.

"Hi!" they said at the same time.

"Hi!" Zoran replied with a smile. "Are you two twins?"

"Yeah!" they said at the same time again.

"I'm older by the way," the boy said.

The girl pushed him aside. "90 seconds."

"Cool!" Zoran said. "I only have an older brother. Oh, and I'm Zoran, by the way."

"I'm Sludge!" the boy said and pointed at his chest.

"And I'm Widget," the girl said and smiled.

"We know your brother Astro. He's our friend," Sludge said.

"Sadly we're not in the same grade as him," Widget said.

"I have proof!" Sludge said and pulled a photo out of his pocket. "Here!"

Zoran looked at the photo. It was the photo they took after they had cleaned up ZOG.

"Okay, I believe you," she said and gave him his photo back with a smile on her face. "In which grade are you?"

"Second," they said at the same time. "We're seven years old."

"I'm in grade four and mentally eight years old," she said.

Then a boy caught Zoran's attention, she knew him.

"Hey, Jack!" she called, happily and sprinted towards him.

The young boy turned around and smiled. "Zoran!"

"It's been a while, how are you?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm fine. Why are you here?" Jack asked, happily, and then noticed the twins. "And who are you?"

"I'm Widget," she said.

"I'm Sludge and older than her!"

"90 seconds!"

"I'm going to school!" Zoran explained. "I'm in grade four and you?"

"I'm also in grade four," he said and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, great!" Zoran said. "Wanna play catch?"

"Sure!"

The twins cheered and played with them.

From the distance, three girls were watching them. The first one had curly red-brown hair and blue eyes, the second one had light-blonde hair and brown eyes and the third one had straight black hair and blue eyes.

"Those kids are taking away your Jack!" the first one said.

"I'm not blind, Akira!" the second one snapped what made the first one flinch. "That girl with the bull hair and the surface junkies will pay!"

Akira got sad. "What do you mean? I'm also from the surf-"

The blonde girl shut her down with a death glare.

"What if they only want to play with him?" the third one asked, tiredly. "And what are you gonna do anyway?"

"Oh, Yui," the second one said. "You know me and I want to be the only friend he has!"

"You aren't planning on bullying her, are you, Hina?" Akira asked.

"Bullying? That sounds fun, to be honest," she said with a smug.

"What if you get caught like last time?" Yui asked, a bit annoyed.

"Well, then we'll just try to make her look bad," Hina said. "Follow me!"

The two girls nodded and followed their leader.

"Ha! You're it!" Zoran said and ran away from Jack.

She didn't pay any attention while running and accidentally bumped into Hina. Both fell down on the floor.

"Ow!" Hina cried out and started crying in a pretty unrealistic way.

Zoran blinked a few times and stood up, offering her hand to help her up. Hina snatched it away and continued crying.

"Geez, what a crybaby," Jack murmured.

Hina then stopped crying and stared at him with a blanc face. She then started crying again, but this time it was real and louder. Akira and Yui helped her up walked away with her without saying a word.

"He called me a crybaby!" she cried.

"Weirdo..." Widget said.

"You're right," Sludge said.

Jack then tapped Zoran's shoulder. "You're it!"

"Hey! You cheater!" Zoran shouted and ran after him, laughing.

* * *

At lunch, Zoran was searching for her new friends in the cafeteria but before she could even take a better look, someone snatched her tray out of her hand and smashed it on the floor. Zoran's eyes widened and she stared at the mess in front of her feet. Then she noticed that in front of her stood Hina.

"Aww, did you drop your food?" she asked and snickered. "What a shame, are you going to cry?"

"Did you get hurt?" Zoran asked.

Hina's jaw dropped. That wasn't the reaction she was expecting.

"O-of course not!" she screeched. "You... you ugly horn head!"

The kids at the cafeteria gasped and all of the attention was drawn onto them.

The young robot girl smiled and pointed at her head. "Oh, so you like my hair?"

The kids' jaw dropped. She was way too innocent.

"You idiot!" Hina cried out.

Yui laid her hand on Hina's shoulder. "We're leaving, you're embarrassing us."

"W-wait!" Hina said and watched as the two left.

She became teary-eyed and dropped her tray.

"Do you want to sit with me and my friends?" Zoran asked.

"S-stay away from me you creep!" Hina shouted and ran away.

Zoran then picked up the trays and the cleaning robots came to clean up the rest.

* * *

At 3 pm, Dr. Tenma's limousine parked in front of the elementary school, and Orrin came out. Zoran ran happily towards him and hugged him.

"Orrin!" she greeted him.

"Oh, uh... good afternoon, Zoran!" he replied, still trying to get used to hugs. "Let me take your backpack-"

"No no," she said. "You don't have to pick me up, I'm going home on my own and I decided to join the cheerleading team, that's why I'm going to leave an hour later!"

"Oh, okay!" Orrin said. "Sounds great. Good luck!"

"Thank you!" Zoran said. "Goodbye!"

* * *

The children were dancing, doing tricks and sang in the gym. Then the couch walked towards them with Zoran.

"Alrighty, kids!" she said. "Today we're having a new member! Please make Zoran feel welcome!"

Zoran smiled and walked towards them. Hina's jaw almost hit the floor, she glared at Zoran while her eyes were burning in rage.  
Zoran got a lot of compliments from the couch and the other kids, everyone welcomed her but Hina.  
At the end of practicing, everyone had already changed their clothes but Zoran because she had to discuss something with the couch. Jack appeared at the door, he finished football practice.

"Did Jack come for me?" Hina asked herself and walked towards him but Zoran ran past her.

"Jack!" she greeted him, happily. "I just finished cheerleading practice! Do you like my outfit? I really like it! It's colorful! What's your favorite color?"

Jack giggled and tried to respond to all of her questions.

"I'm going to change, then we can walk home together!" the young robot girl said.

"Alright, I'll wait at the gate," he said and walked off.

Zoran noticed Hina, smiled at her, and then disappeared in the girls' locker room.

Hina balled her hands into fists. "I hate you!" she murmured.

Zoran changed into her normal clothes and went to leave the gym but then she noticed Hina, sitting on the stairs and crying. Everyone had already left but her.  
_We're robots and we're meant to help humans! I need you to help others!  
_Astro's words were echoing in her head as she walked towards her. She then put her backpack on the floor and held a tissue and a few candies in front of her, she hadn't eaten at lunch. Hina held back at first but then accepted the gift and stood up.

"Do you want to walk home with me and Jack?" Zoran asked, smiling.

Hina's eyes sparkled with happiness. "Y-yeah!"

"Alrighty! Come on!" she said and walked with her to the exit.

Hina felt embarrassed after what she had said and done to her.

"Hey, what is _she_ doing here?" Jack asked and looked at Hina.

Hina became emotional again at that question.

"Let's walk with her, Jack!" Zoran said. "She's very nice. Give her at least a chance."

Jack shrugged and smiled. "Hm, sure."

The kids walked together. Hina didn't even really care anymore, she was smiling and hoped for this moment to never end.

After Jack and Zoran dropped Hina off at her house, they were alone.  
They said nothing until Jack started laughing hysterically.

"Hm? What's so funny?" Zoran asked.

Jack laughed harder.

"Come on, Jack! Tell me!" Zoran said.

The young boy grabbed his stomach and calmed down a bit.  
"Zoran?"

"Yeah?"

"You're way too innocent."

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Why?"

"Because I like you the way you are."

* * *

**PLEASE READ! IMPORTANT INFORMATION!:**

**I'm gonna change the story's title from "Nikki" to "The Thee Cores". **

**Aaaaand the story is soon also gonna be available on Wattpad with pictures! :)**

**The last two chapters of this volume are almost done, then we'll be heading to volume 2!  
This series is at least gonna have 3 volumes with a few one-shots.**

* * *

**That's it with the 14th chapter! :D**

**This here is, by the way, a One-Shot chapter. I thought I'll just show how Zoran's life is going at the time.**

**Sorry that it took me so long to update on this story again. ^^'**

**Here's my question:  
Do you have pets?  
I used to have a bunny, then I had two and now I don't, but I'm saving some money for a dog. :)  
**


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